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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26314471">Glasses Girl (Redux)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shihanne/pseuds/Shihanne'>Shihanne</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Coming of Age, F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:02:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>19,422</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26314471</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shihanne/pseuds/Shihanne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of Inoue Miyako through her journey from childhood to adulthood, through life, love, and friendship, and everything in between.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ichijouji Ken/Inoue Miyako | Yolei Inoue, Ishida Yamato | Matt Ishida/Takenouchi Sora</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>21</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. January 2003 - New Year</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>It's been a while, hasn't it?</p><p>There might be a few of you out there who recognize what this fic is. To put it simply, this is a fic I have been attempting to write since something like 2007, and my third attempt at it. The first time was embarrassing to the point there are no longer records (I hadn't even seen 02 in Japanese at the time), and so I did a second attempt in 2013 -- only for a little something called Digimon Adventure tri. to throw things off for me, since this was meant to be a fic explicitly meant to try and be canon-compliant. Then, well...circumstances made that entire four-year wait kind of end in moot anyway, but then Kizuna happened, so that was another two years of waiting, this time with a pretty significant amount of material. So now, I *hope* things have settled down enough that I can finally take a proper attempt at doing this again.</p><p>Still, it might have been for the better that I waited, despite everything. There are many things I didn't quite understand about writing nor even about 02 or Miyako as a character during my earlier attempts, and while I by no means can be perfect now, I really want to make this the best I can with the abilities I currently have. Although there may be some things kept from the second attempt, overall I've decided to re-approach this from scratch, even the format. So this is my third attempt, and hopefully, this time, I will actually finish it for once (even with my current busy schedule)...</p><p>In summary, this is meant to be a fic that encapsulates Miyako's life story between 2003 and the 02 epilogue in 2028, covering all of the interesting events that must have happened between there, and how she grew as a person. This is, as said before, meant to be canon-compliant, so you can assume Ken/Miyako (which will naturally be a major part of the story, but not the sole one) and Yamato/Sora will be holding. The Adventure universe timeline is quite convoluted, so there are some things I'm going to be shifting around to make the timeline make sense, but otherwise this should all be within the scope of canon.</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>After the end of a harrowing battle, Miyako faces the new year, and her hopes for it.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">It was still early morning when Miyako took her first step into the shrine.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<p></p><div><p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">She was flanked by her parents and siblings around her, but for the first time, it felt like she was making this visit without really thinking about their presence. It was the first year she would be celebrating New Year’s in this way.</span>
  </p>
<hr/></div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">It had all started with a single sentence from Iori that night.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"><em>Can we all visit the shrine together for New Year?</em> </span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">He had said it almost out of nowhere, in the midst of almost complete silence from himself that night. Everyone had been trying not to bother him too much as he’d been unable to say anything, and nobody could blame him — after all, while it had been an emotionally draining night for all of them, Iori had literally watched a body evaporate in his very arms.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">And somehow, like clockwork, their families had started to organize it.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Miyako’s family was big, and New Year’s shrine visits were always crowded, so the only time she’d gone with anyone outside her family was with Iori’s, and that was less because they’d organized it and more because they conveniently happened to be planning to go to the shrine at the same time. But now, here, their families were organizing a large-scale group visit.</span>
  </p>
</div><div><p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Considering that her parents and siblings had said so little in the past few days about what they’d just learned — that she’d been fighting an effective territory war for an entire year under their noses — it was obvious that this had </span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"><em>some</em></span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> kind of relationship to what had just happened, although Miyako wasn’t sure exactly what.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“Thank</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> you for your hard work”?</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“Please</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> communicate with us more”? Maybe even</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“We’re</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> glad you have such nice friends”? But she wasn’t exactly in the mood to ask and thus open up a whole other barrage of questions.</span></p>
<hr/></div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">So here she was, at the shrine.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">It was the first New Year she’d be spending with Hawkmon. Not only that, she was about to walk right into a crowded shrine with him in plain view. This was a decision she’d deliberately made — to the point she and her siblings had even had a discussion over it, and Hawkmon himself had even offered to stay behind for the day, but she had absolutely refused. Perhaps it was because the last few days had involved her getting used to having Hawkmon around instead of Poromon, and she honestly didn’t even know the reason herself, but it was firm in her mind: </span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> <em>People are going to stare at us and think it’s unusual, but they’re just going to have to deal with it. We are </em> </span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">not</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> <em> going to be hiding them anymore.</em> </span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">She didn’t have to consult her friends about it, either. She knew they all felt the same way.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“So this is a shrine during New Year…” said Hawkmon, looking around.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“It’s</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> quite crowded. Is it normally this crowded?”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Generally speaking,” said Miyako, perking up a little upon hearing Hawkmon’s fascination.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“It’d</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> be even worse if we came on the actual 1st, though. You know, maybe next year we should see if we could make you a kimono that fits you.”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“I would love that very much, Miyako-san.”</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">From out in the distance, Miyako heard a</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“heeeeeey!”,</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> and when she turned around, naturally, Daisuke and his own family was there. Unlike the Inoue family, the entire Motomiya family was in casual wear, even Jun</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-lparen">(who</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> quickly grouped up with Miyako’s sisters to chat).</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Miyako suddenly realized that she was probably going to be one of the only ones wearing a kimono, and started awkwardly adjusting her hairpin. She’d always come with her family, or that one time with Iori’s</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-lparen">(which</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> also adhered to wearing the kimono every year), so she’d normally relished in the opportunity to break it out, even after her siblings and parents had stopped bothering with the practice. But now </span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"><em>everyone</em></span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> and their families were going to be there, and she suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious…</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Fortunately, the Hida family showed up in short order, thus temporarily putting a small reprieve on her solitary embarrassment. As expected, they were all dressed in proper formal attire.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Iori, on the other hand, still seemed to be in low spirits. Miyako opened her mouth to talk to him, before realizing she still really wasn’t sure what to say.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">It wasn’t long before everyone else started to come in with their own families. Miyako’s family was the biggest, but their group was certainly getting larger and larger, to the point they eventually had to pull off to the side.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Miyako-san, your kimono looks amazing!”</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Thanks, Hikari-chan!”</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Maybe I should wear it next year…” she said, putting a finger to her face while contemplating it.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“My</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> brother absolutely refuses to wear it, so I haven’t in a while…” She used her head to gesture towards Taichi, who had initially looked a bit out of place but seemed to finally have settled in by striking up a chat with Takeru.</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“You should, you should! Do you have a nice one?”</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“I do! I haven’t worn it in a while, though.”</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Their cheerful chatter was suddenly interrupted by a voice.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“I’m</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> sorry we’re late…”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Miyako turned around to see the Ichijouji family, Ken and his parents, having arrived. Ken seemed to have dressed primarily for the cold weather, having bundled up quite tightly.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Oh! Ken-kun!” Miyako waved a hand cheerfully at him.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“Don’t</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> worry about being late, you’re the one coming all the way from Tamachi, after all…”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">She ran up a little closer to greet him, only to notice he seemed a bit frozen.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Ah? Ken-kun? You okay?”</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Ah! Sorry, it’s the early morning…” he said, suddenly jolting back to earth.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“Miyako-san,</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> that’s a really beautiful kimono…”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Miyako put on her biggest grin.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“Heehee.</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> Thank you!” Hearing both Hikari and Ken compliment it made her feel much better about the decision to wear it.</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Daisuke came over and put a hand around Ken’s shoulder, and Miyako could visibly see the tension relax a little in Ken’s face.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“Don’t</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> worry about it, don’t worry about it! We’re just glad to have you here. And since we’re all here, let’s get started!”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <hr/>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">The Hida family had the whole process down pat, so they approached the offering box first. Miyako waited behind them in line, watching as they clapped and prayed.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"><em>I wonder what Iori’s praying for.</em> </span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Iori had still been relatively silent the whole morning, and Miyako was out of earshot to hear what he was saying, if he was even saying anything at all. For possibly the first time since she’d ever met him, Miyako felt like she didn’t even have the foggiest clue of what was going on in his head at the moment.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">He’d been the one to ask that they all come with him to the shrine. Was he, perhaps, praying for Oikawa’s soul?</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Would Iori do that? A few months ago, she would have gone</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“never,</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> not a chance,” but now…</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">The Hida family finished their prayer, which left the Inoue family to go up.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“You know what to do, right, Hawkmon?” said Miyako.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“Bow,</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> clap, pray, and bow again.”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Understood, Miyako-san!”</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Deliberately ignoring what must be stares and whispers from others around her at the very large bird with them, Miyako approached the shrine and bowed.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Her prayer this year was a no-brainer.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"><em>Thank you for letting me meet Hawkmon, the most important encounter of my life.</em> </span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">As they finished their prayer, Miyako looked at Hawkmon as they stepped down, and although neither of them said anything, she already knew he felt the same.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Once the Inoue family had finished, the Motomiya family went up next. But as they stepped down, Miyako couldn’t help but keep looking at Iori, who seemed to be looking off in the distance at nothing in particular.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <hr/>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Once everyone had finished this year’s prayers, Daisuke yelled at all of them,</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“Okay,</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> we’re drawing lots now! It’s New Year’s, we can’t have New Year’s without drawing lots!”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Naturally, no one protested, so they all crowded around the lot vendor. The vendor seemed to be a bit taken aback by the strange small</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“animals”</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> they had around them, but Daisuke and Miyako were able to summon their best </span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"><em>got a problem?</em></span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> looks to the point there could no longer be any protest.</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Daisuke and V-mon were the first to draw — and simultaneously facefaulted when both of them, somehow, miraculously turned up</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“great</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> curse”.</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Somehow, that doesn’t feel surprising at all…” said Tailmon, as Hikari giggled next to her.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">As Daisuke and V-mon dragged themselves over to the side to tie up their lots and hopefully rid themselves of the curse</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-lparen">(they</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> hadn’t even bothered to read the rest of it), Ken pulled next, handing one to Wormmon. Wormmon had pulled</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“half</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> curse”, but he didn’t seem to mind upon seeing that Ken had somehow struck gold and gotten</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“great</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> blessing”.</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“That’s Ken-chan for you!” said Wormmon, looking very proud of his partner.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“I don’t know why,” said Miyako,</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“but</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> somehow </span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"><em>that</em></span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> doesn’t seem surprising, either.”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Miyako and Hawkmon pulled next. Hawkmon, opening his, seemed rather satisfied with his result of</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“half</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> blessing”, while Miyako opened hers and found the single solitary character of</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“blessing”</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> on it.</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"><em>Eh, I can live with this,</em> </span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> she thought.</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">As everyone else started drawing their own lots, Miyako tried to read the rest of the fortune — she was never quite good at reading these.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Need help, Miyako-san?”</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Miyako looked up to see Takeru and Patamon</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-lparen">(they’d</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> pulled</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“half</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> blessing” and</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“curse”</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> respectively) looking at her.</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Oh! If you please.”</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Takeru took the fortune from her and started pointing out what each part meant, section by section — it still went quite a bit over her head, but at least with Takeru’s help it made a </span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> <em>little</em> </span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> more sense.</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“…so I think in the end, the main point here is that there will be a lot of opportunities for you, but you need to be the one to look out for them and take them.”</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Right, I see, I see,” said Miyako, pursing her lips.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“Thanks,</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> Takeru-kun!”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“No problem,” he said, smiling back at her.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“It sounds pretty good to me!” said Patamon, still on top of his head.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Takeru handed Miyako’s fortune back at her, and Miyako looked back at it.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"><em>Opportunities, huh.</em> </span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">She looked back at Iori, who was quietly pulling two lots and handing one to Armadimon. The other Digimon crowded around Armadimon and cheered upon seeing him get</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“great</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> blessing”, but Iori said nothing as he opened his.</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Hey, Iori!” said Daisuke, back from tying his lot up.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“What’d</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> you get? Show us!”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Iori, not seeming in the mood to protest, revealed that he’d gotten the same as Miyako, a simple standard</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“blessing”.</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">He turned it back without saying a word, reading the rest of it. Takeru walked over to him, clearly also offering to explain whatever his fortune was, and although Miyako was curious about whether it was similar to her own, she decided to let him take care of it.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <hr/>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Um, I’m sorry, but…”</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">As they were walking around the shrine, Ken suddenly spoke up.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Is it okay if I go and buy an </span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> <em>ema</em></span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">?”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Miyako blinked at him a few times.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“Oh!</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> Is there a wish you want to make, Ken-kun?”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Yeah…Well, I hadn’t done this in a while, so…”</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Miyako looked at him, looking downwards and a little embarrassed, and she understood immediately. Up until only a few months ago, his heart had been taken over by the Dark Seed, and things like wishes and prayers had probably become meaningless to him. She wondered how long it’d been since he’d last been able to properly</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“enjoy”</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> a shrine visit like this…</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">But this was not the time to be asking for details on this, and Miyako did not push the subject.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Well, I don’t see why not,” said Daisuke.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“Anyone</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> else wanna get one?”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">As they lined up behind the vendor, to Miyako’s surprise, Iori followed Ken without hesitation and bought one for himself.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Ken sat down with Wormmon and started neatly writing on the </span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> <em>ema</em> </span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> with the pen, with Wormmon peering over expectantly in a way that indicated that the two of them had already discussed what Ken was about to write.</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Iori, sitting elsewhere, was also quietly writing on his own with a pen, but at a much slower pace.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Iori…” said Armadimon, who clearly had </span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> <em>not</em> </span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> discussed this with Iori earlier.</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Ken seemed to have finished, and was looking over his work with Wormmon.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“So what’d you write?” said Daisuke, looking at Ken expectantly.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“W-Well…” said Ken, suddenly seeming a bit too shy to show it.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Come on, show us!”</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Realizing that there was no point in trying to hide it, Ken sheepishly turned over the </span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> <em>ema</em> </span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> and showed it to the others. Both Daisuke and Miyako leaned in to look at it, and the words written in Ken’s neat handwriting.</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> <em>May my family and friends stay in good health and always be safe.<br/>
Ichijouji Ken<br/>
Tamachi, Tokyo<br/>
2003.1.3</em> </span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Huh? What’s so embarrassing about that?” said Daisuke.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“It</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> looks nice to me.”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Miyako’s eyes drifted over that word</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“friends”.</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> Something about it stuck out to her as she stared at it, before she realized — this might be the first time she’d ever heard Ken use that word, and not just</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“friends”</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> in terms of being teammates, but</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“friends”</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> in terms of being…well, </span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"><em>friends</em></span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">.</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“You don’t have to be shy about calling us friends, you know!” said Miyako, who couldn’t resist speaking up about it anymore.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“We</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"><em>are</em></span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> your friends, we’re happy to be your friends.”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Ken laughed a little awkwardly, indicating that she’d gotten it right on the nose.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“T-Thanks…”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Oh, so </span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"><em>that’s</em></span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> what it was!” said Daisuke, laughing a little.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“Hey,</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> look, you can call us teammates or friends or </span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"><em>best</em></span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> friends or whatever you like, we’ll be there for you. Or even jailmates if you like.”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Ken started genuinely laughing, a bit incredulously.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“Jailmates?</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> Don’t tell me we’re going to end up in </span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"><em>jail</em></span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> now?!”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Well, I’m just saying…!”</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Miyako giggled a little at the sight of Ken and Daisuke starting to banter, but quickly turned to check at Iori, who was staring at his finished </span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> <em>ema</em></span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">. Finally unable to take the silence anymore, she walked up to him.</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Iori,” she said, trying to get his attention.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Iori looked up at her, still looking a bit out of it.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“Ah…Miyako-san…”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Miyako got down on her knees to look at his eye level, since he was sitting down.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“Is</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> it okay if I look? You don’t have to show me if you don’t want to.”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Iori shook his head.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“No,</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> it’s fine…”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">He turned around the </span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> <em>ema</em> </span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> to show it to her.</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> <em>May I be able to help save those who are about to fall to the darkness.<br/>
H.I.<br/>
Tokyo<br/>
H15 January 3</em> </span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">It was written in such poetic words for a short sentence. Miyako was surprised at the wide-spreading nature of such a wish.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“I’ve been…thinking about things,” said Iori, turning it back after confirming that Miyako had seen it.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“About Oikawa?”</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Iori nodded.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“He was a friend of my father. I’m sure that back when my father was alive, he was a good friend to him. And then, because he couldn’t be saved…</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> <em>that</em> </span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> happened.”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">He looked up towards the other side of the path, where Ken and Daisuke were having a banter argument</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-lparen">(or,</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> more accurately, Ken simply getting more and more incredulous at Daisuke digging himself deeper).</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“And, also…that Ichijouji-san has been trying hard all this time, and yet I didn’t understand…”</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Miyako got up from squatting and sat next to him on the bench.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“I don’t think you should blame yourself for things you couldn’t do much about,” said Miyako.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“The</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> important part is that now you understand, right? And Ken-kun is trying his best, so you shouldn’t worry too much about him.”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Iori’s trying his best too, </span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"><em>dagya</em></span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">!” said Armadimon.</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Miyako laughed lightly.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“He</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> is. Iori’s trying his best.” She looked gently at him.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“And</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> that’s what’s important. You’re trying your best, and you’re even making a wish on an </span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"><em>ema</em></span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> about it, and the only thing you can do is do your best going forward, right?”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Iori nodded.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“…Thanks, Miyako-san.”</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Hawkmon tapped Miyako’s shoulder.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Miyako-san, I’m wondering if maybe we should write one too?”</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Oh!” Miyako put a finger to her chin and thought about it.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“Hmmm…”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <hr/>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">In the end, all of them ended up buying one — peer pressure was enough to get them all into it.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">Miyako sat on the bench holding the pen, with Hawkmon peering over her.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Do you have an idea of what to wish for, Miyako-san?” said Hawkmon.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“Hmm, I wonder,” she said.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“I’ve</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> never done one of these for New Year’s before…”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">She thought about what she’d wanted to wish for. She’d generally associated these with people wishing for good luck on exams, and it seemed tempting to ask for prosperity for her middle school entrance this year, but after seeing what Ken and Iori had written, it honestly made something like that seem incredibly superficial.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“I think it’s fine if you simply write down your own feelings, Miyako-san,” said Hawkmon.</span> <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z h-ldquo">“As</span><span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> long as your feelings are honest and pure, the gods will understand.”</span></p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">“…Yeah, you’re right.”</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">She uncapped the pen and started to write.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>May everyone be able to smile happily and always be happy this year.</em><br/>
<em>Inoue Miyako</em><br/>
<em>Tokyo</em><br/>
<em>January 3, 2003</em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">It felt a little vague for something like this, but, in all honesty, she couldn’t think of anything that she wanted more.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">As Hawkmon admired her handiwork, Miyako looked up at Daisuke, Takeru, and Hikari writing their own wishes while consulting their respective partners. She had a feeling they probably were writing something around the same thing.</span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z"> <em>Yeah. It’s a new year. Let’s look forward to something great.</em> </span>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <span class="author-d-iz88z86z86za0dz67zz78zz78zz74zz68zjz80zz71z9iz90z9z84zhz69zz74zsz85zz81zda26z89zwz72zlz90z1wbpuz78zz67zi6mikz69zz83z">The sleeves of her kimono rustled a little along with the winter wind.</span>
  </p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I had always made comments about how 02's finale being on New Year's Eve meant that they were all going to have an awful New Year's, but then I was reminded of the existence of hatsumode, so I decided to try integrating those thoughts together. I was a little afraid of covering such an extensively cultural topic in terms of whether it was my place to do so, but I did ultimately spend about half a day doing a lot of intimate research on what each component mentioned in this chapter entails, and tried to limit it to things that were appropriate to the story. I do think something as incredibly cultural as the Adventure universe would have this happen in any fanfic set in it, but I do hope I've executed it in a sufficiently tasteful manner.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. October 2003 - Left-Behind Children</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>What Miyako originally expects to be an ordinary computer club meeting ends up with her learning about an ordeal Iori had taken on.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Izumi-senpai? Poromon?”</p><p>Miyako cautiously pushed open the door to the computer room. Today was normally supposed to follow the same sort of routine she’d been following since elementary school – supposed to have been, anyway.</p><p>“I heard something about today’s meeting being postponed, but I wasn’t sure, so I – ack!”</p><p>Miyako found her shirt suddenly being pulled at by something at her waist. She looked down and saw what seemed to be a little girl pinching the cloth of her shirt, looking up at her with a petulant expression.</p><p>“Who’re you?” said the girl, with a slightly accusatory tone.</p><p>“H-Hey! What’re you doing?”</p><p>Miyako tugged at her shirt, but the girl only clutched harder.</p><p>“Ah, I’m sorry, Miyako-kun…” said Koushirou, getting up from his seat at the computer. Sitting next to him, looking straight at Miyako, was none other than Iori, holding Upamon in his arms.</p><p>“Ah? Iori?...Ah!”</p><p>Miyako was unable to process the full impact of Iori being in the Odaiba Middle School computer room for whatever reason as the girl continued to pull at her shirt.</p><p>Koushirou got up and walked towards Miyako – and Miyako could see what seemed to be a little boy trailing behind him.</p><p>…No, not a boy.</p><p>Miyako looked back at the “girl” who had been pulling at her shirt, and then back at the “boy” trailing behind Koushirou. She hadn’t recognized them at first because she hadn’t seen them like this before, but looking at the “girl”’s hair color, and the “boy” who certainly looked very not human…</p><p>“…Izumi-senpai, is this…?”</p><p>“Yes, it is,” said Koushirou.</p><p>Iori got up from his chair and also looked up at Miyako.</p><p>“It’s Archnemon and Mummymon,” he said.</p><hr/><p>What seemed to be a much younger Archnemon – visually seeming something like three or four years old – was sitting at the windowsill and kicking her legs, looking bored. Next to her was a likewise younger-looking Mummymon, also looking bored, except more in an “antsy” way than an irritable way.</p><p>“…How?” said Miyako, having pulled up a chair to sit down on, but not at any particular computer.</p><p>Iori, also sitting on his own chair, didn’t look her in the eye.</p><p>“…The truth is, it was my request,” he said. “It started when I asked Koushirou-san to contact Gennai-san, because I wanted to know if it was possible for them to be reborn at the Village of Beginnings…”</p><p>“Reborn? You asked about that?”</p><p>“I mean…When you think about what happened to them…”</p><p>Miyako reflected on Iori’s words, and hung her head in response.</p><p>When she thought about it that way, she couldn’t argue with that. If you’d asked her whether she’d <em>liked</em> Archnemon or Mummymon, the answer would be an obvious no. They’d done nothing but awful things to them under Oikawa, and even if her heart felt a bit for Oikawa after all that, the two of <em>them</em> had shown no interest in anything besides wanton destruction – especially Archnemon, who seemed to have done and said so many horrible things to Ken.</p><p>But when she thought about what had happened to them in the end –</p><p>When she remembered what had happened to them –</p><p>Miyako shook her head, and unconsciously started stroking Poromon, as if jogging the memory of what had happened would put him in danger, too.</p><p>“…So what happened next?”</p><p>Iori’s head was also hung low.</p><p>“…So we contacted Gennai-san, and he told us that it wouldn’t be possible. Because they were only half Digimon, they wouldn’t be able to be reborn as eggs…”</p><p>Miyako tried to imagine Archnemon and Mummymon as full-grown human-shaped Digimon hatching out of gigantic eggs, and, despite the solemnity of the conversation, let out something vaguely resembling an awkward laugh before nodding at Iori to continue.</p><p>“…But he offered to try and find their data and salvage it, so I asked him to do so. About a month later, he responded to us. So we successfully salvaged the data, but…there was something missing.”</p><p>Miyako nodded. “Because Oikawa made them artificially, right?”</p><p>“Yes. Apparently, he made them with his own genes, but…”</p><p>“But he isn’t here anymore, <em>dagya</em>,” said Upamon.</p><p>Miyako looked at the “young” Archnemon and Mummymon sitting on the windowsill. They didn’t even seem to be paying attention to the conversation – and Miyako wondered if they would even properly understand the deeper implications if they were.</p><p>Iori continued.</p><p>“We wondered what we could do in such a situation, but then Ichijouji-san was the one who came up with the suggestion…that his father used to work with him. So we went to his workplace and asked about anything we could. And although, as we expected, Oikawa-san had done most of his work relevant to this at home, away from the view of his workplace, he still had a large amount of his research done with them, and anything done with them was considered their property…”</p><p>“They were reluctant to let any of it go, of course,” chimed in Koushirou, “but then Ichijouji-kun’s father pulled some strings, and even slipped us some of the data even when he wasn’t technically supposed to.”</p><p>“And then…” said Iori, obviously feeling a little unnerved at how Koushirou had more easily admitted to the fact they’d just done something questionably legal, “we managed to get help from Gennai-san, and Koushirou-san put much of it together…but…”</p><p>His voice completely trailed off here, and Koushirou, noticing that Iori was having a hard time continuing further, picked up the thread.</p><p>“The main issue is that Oikawa seemed to have done many things that were…questionably ethical in creating Archnemon and Mummymon,” said Koushirou. “In approaching the problem of their restoration, we had to face the question of whether we were willing to do the exact same thing.”</p><p>“Like what?” said Miyako.</p><p>Koushirou made a grimace that so clearly said <em>you don’t want to know</em> that Miyako could only respond “…ah, I see.”</p><p>“That was one problem. But even that aside, the other issue was that, because they were half human, certain things were unrecoverable.”</p><p>“Unrecoverable?”</p><p>Koushirou walked over to the nearby board and drew two circles on it.</p><p>“Because they were half Digimon, there were many aspects stored in their data, like structure and general nature.” He gestured towards one of the circles. “But in regards to their human sides, those were what ‘died’ that day. No matter what, we can’t get them back.” He crossed out the entirety of the circle. “All we could do was use the same <em>kind</em> of thing to restore the body. But in that human side that died…”</p><p>“…was their memories,” said Iori.</p><p>Miyako looked back at Archnemon and Mummymon, who had now left the windowsill. Mummymon was now shifting curiously through the files on Koushirou’s desk, while Archnemon was sitting on the table itself, looking at him with an irritated look.</p><p>“So they don’t have any memory of what happened before?” said Miyako.</p><p>Iori shook his head.</p><p>“In the end, this was all we could do without doing things we weren't willing to,” said Koushirou. “So Iori-kun and I had a number of long discussions about whether to go forward with it…and this was what came out of it.”</p><p>Iori looked straight up at Miyako.</p><p>“…Miyako-san, what do you think? Was this the right thing to do? We may not have gone as far as Oikawa-san did, but we did the same thing…Should we have done it?”</p><p>Miyako continued to look straight at Archnemon and Mummymon, not able to turn back to Iori. The two of them, now noticing that she was staring at them, looked straight back at her.</p><p>Miyako felt she couldn’t read anything out of their gazes at all.</p><p>
  <em>Was this the right thing to do?</em>
</p><p>Ethics and morality were always very complicated topics to Miyako, and ones that she didn’t like to think too hard about. To her, generally speaking, things were very straightforward – the important part was to always do your best to not hurt others. But the moment things got into overarching questions about life and morals and all of that, it always felt like her head was short-circuiting.</p><p>She thought about Ken, and she thought about Oikawa, and she thought about that moment –</p><p>That one moment, the moment BelialVamdemon had –</p><p>There was nobody who deserved that. Not even them.</p><p>To Miyako, who hated seeing others in pain like that, it was just too painful of a memory to even remember again.</p><p>Miyako’s grip on Poromon tightened slightly, and, perhaps in response to this, Poromon spoke in lieu of her.</p><p>“Archnemon and Mummymon were Digimon themselves in a way, right?’</p><p>“They were, <em>dagya</em>,” said Upamon.</p><p>“For us as Digimon,” said Poromon, “it’s normal for all of us to have a chance to be reborn. I don’t think it’s wrong to want a Digimon to have that chance, either.”</p><p>Iori took a moment to digest the words.</p><p>“Yeah…” said Miyako. “I mean, I know not everything’s going to be the same as before. But then again, it’s not like what was going on before was <em>good</em>, either…and if Ken-kun and his dad even helped you out with it, he probably doesn’t mind, either.”</p><p>“And, Iori,” said Upamon, “I think Oikawa would have wanted it, too.”</p><p>Iori tilted his head and looked at Upamon, a little curiously.</p><p>“…Do you think so?”</p><p>“Oikawa made them because he was lonely, right?”</p><p>Iori paused for a moment. “I…don’t know if he did…”</p><p>“I think he did, <em>dagya</em>.”</p><p>“Well, they <em>are</em> kind of his kids, in a sense?” said Miyako, mixing in a slight laugh. “So if you think of it that way, I guess a dad would really want the best for his kids, even when he’s gone. Don’t you think so?”</p><p>Iori finally looked straight at Miyako.</p><p>There was something in his expression suddenly looking like she’d struck something very specific.</p><p><em>Ah, </em>thought Miyako, <em>I probably said something insensitive by accident again, didn’t I…</em></p><p>But for the first time that day since Miyako had started seeing him, Iori broke out into a small – very small, but still visible – smile.</p><p>“No, I think you’re right.”</p><hr/><p>They spent the rest of the time in the classroom talking about the process of what they had done, and what they planned to do from there. Every time Miyako looked back at Archnemon and Mummymon, she found it odd how quiet they seemed to be – her perception of them had always been that they were very noisy, but they were barely speaking any words at all.</p><p><em>Well, they were just born after all,</em> she thought, <em>but I really get worried whenever I don’t know what people are thinking…</em></p><p>Suddenly, Mummymon plodded over to Miyako, tilted his head, appraised her for a few seconds…and then grabbed her glasses and started running around with them.</p><p>“H-Hey! Get back here!”</p><p>Miyako, irritated, started running around and chasing Mummymon, who was holding up her glasses like he’d won some kind of prize. In the background, she heard the others continuing the conversation.</p><p>“So if I may ask,” said Poromon, “where will they be staying from here on out?”</p><p>“Gennai-san has offered to take them in,” said Koushirou. “That may change in the future depending on what happens, but right now, with them at so young an age, and with the real world still not very understanding of Digimon, it will probably not be safe for the time being. But Gennai-san and the other Agents are interested in them, as are the Holy Beasts, especially since they also believe they may come to learn more about humans through them.”</p><p>“They called them ‘a potential hope for the Digital World’, <em>dagya</em>,” said Upamon.</p><p>Miyako, having run up in front of them in the process of chasing Mummymon, bent over and started panting in exhaustion.</p><p>“…I mean, that’s great and all,” she said, “but I’d <em>really</em> like it if ‘the hope of the Digital World’ gave me back my glasses.”</p><p>Hearing this, Iori couldn’t help but laugh a little.</p><p>Miyako looked up at him and sighed in exasperation, but somewhere deep within, she had to admit that seeing Iori finally cheer up made her feel ever slightly more relaxed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is a chapter that was rather emotionally difficult for me to write (given the content), so I do feel like the short length and some of the ways I could have executed it (better) came out as a result of that, but after a certain point it got to "get it out or else you'll never finish it and therefore the rest of the fic!", so that's what happened. Well, it'd be embarrassing if I got held up only at chapter 2, right...</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. May 2004 - Meet and Greet</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Miyako is called by Mimi to help her with a favor in the Digital World, but things don't go as well as she'd hoped...</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Now being in her second year of middle school, Miyako’s days were certainly getting busier and busier — even with more of her friends now attending the same school, she only had so much time left between the computer club and her increasing amount of studies. Add to that the issue of timezones, and of course it was only natural that Mimi, all the way in America, wouldn’t have much free time to spend with her, especially since she herself was going through an increase in schoolwork.</p><p>So, naturally, whenever Mimi <em>did</em> invite her to join her on a Digital World outing, Miyako was perfectly willing to move heaven and earth to make her schedule match up.</p><p>Miyako rushed into the computer room the moment classes ended with Poromon under her arm, yelling “sorry I’m late!”, and looked around the room. The only ones in there were Daisuke and Chibimon, sitting in front of the computer and, in unison, giving her a side glance.</p><p>“…Just you?”</p><p>“Everyone else is busy with clubs, or something,” said Daisuke, his voice tinted with a half-sigh (Miyako detected some traces of what she suspected was irritation at Hikari being part of that “everyone”). He raised an eyebrow at Miyako. “What, you have a problem with it being only us?”</p><p>Miyako let out a <em>pffft</em> and rolled her eyes. “Well, whatever.”</p><p>As Daisuke and Chibimon stood up and pulled away a little from the computer screen, Miyako yanked out her D-3 and pointed it at the screen.</p><p>“Digital Gate, open! Chosen Children, let’s roll!”</p>
<hr/><p>It was easy to spot Mimi even from a considerable distance away; not only was it easy to spot a human in the Digital World in general, but her style of dress also stuck out enough like a sore thumb that there was never any doubt on which human it was from the moment they lay eyes on her. Palmon stood next to her, waving at them.</p><p>Mimi had brought two kids their age, with today’s task for Daisuke and Miyako being to hang out with them for the day — according to Mimi in the email she’d sent them earlier, they were new Chosen Children whom Mimi wanted to have interact with as many experienced ones as possible, especially ones their age like Daisuke and Miyako. The two kids looked at them shyly, both of them holding eggs.</p><p>After greeting and introducing each other, the group started walking around.</p><p>“So, how’d you meet your Digimon?” said Miyako, trying to strike up a conversation. “It’s pretty unusual to see new Chosen Children with eggs — ”</p><p>The mood instantly turned stiff as the two kids looked down at the eggs. The air was suddenly permeated with silence.</p><p>Noticing what had just happened, Mimi suddenly interjected. “Ah, well, that’s not really an important question, haha!…”</p><p>The sudden abruptness of Mimi cutting in with such an uncharacteristic response, along with the obviously downcast reactions of the two kids, made Miyako instantly realize her mistake as the two awkwardly laughed. <em>Something</em> had clearly happened, and Miyako was starting to have a few suspicions as to what, but, as she had unfortunately just realized, </p><p>
  <em>Ah, I messed up. And in front of Mimi-san, too…</em>
</p><p>Daisuke, next to her, raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Miyako wondered if he’d figured out what had just happened, but knew she was exactly not in the place to be asking about it.</p><p>—</p><p>Miyako spent the rest of the afternoon trying her hardest to make up for her mistake in some way, reaching everywhere for topics to bring up and engage them about. But the two of them, seeming incredibly shy, only seemed to emotionally retreat further and further with every question she asked.</p><p>Every passing minute, she felt her heart sinking even further.</p><p>
  <em>…Should I even be here?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I came here to help Mimi-san, but I feel like I’m just making this worse…</em>
</p><p>Suddenly, while they were walking, Daisuke spoke up and held up a hand. “Hey.”</p><p>“What’s wrong, Daisuke?” said V-mon, looking up at him curiously.</p><p>“…Hold on for a second.”</p><p>Everyone stopped in their tracks.</p><p>Daisuke narrowed his eyes and turned around to face what seemed to be some nearby bushes.</p><p>“…Yeah, I see you there. Come out and stop sneaking around.”</p><p>In response to what Daisuke had just said, the bushes started to rustle, and out came a Toucanmon with a camera, closely followed by a Wanyamon.</p><p>“…Haaaaah?” said Miyako, raising her arms. “You’re saying they were watching us?!”</p><p>“Were you filming us?!” said V-mon, aghast.</p><p>“That’s quite uncouth,” said Hawkmon, his disapproval leaking into every drop of his tone.</p><p>But despite having been caught red-handed (or, perhaps, red-winged), the Toucanmon seemed to have no signs of remorse whatsoever, and the Wanyamon continued to bounce up and down, cheerfully, like nothing was wrong.</p><p>“Look, I’m just exercisin’ my rights here,” said the Toucanmon. “I’m a reporter. I do my job. Gotta pay the bills. I see a bunch of humans walkin’ by, and if I don’t do somethin’ ‘bout it, I’m just lettin’ my paycheck run right past me.”</p><p>“And what kind of business would you want with us?” said Mimi, in a tone that wasn’t particularly aggressive, but still firm.</p><p>“Well,” said the Toucanmon, sighing, “since I guess we’re not gettin’ anywhere like this, might as well get an interview out of ya.”</p><p>Everyone else blinked and looked at each other.</p><p>“…An interview?” said Palmon. “What kind of interview?”</p><p>The Toucanmon cleared his throat, while the Wanyamon next to him started bouncing at a faster pace.</p><p>“You humans, you ‘Chosen Children’ or something-or-other, have been slinking into the Digital World more and more, and disrupting our society! We want to know what kind of plans you have with our world from now on, and what you have to say about being unwanted invaders. Hm?”</p><p>Miyako grit her teeth, and stepped forward.</p><p>“Hey.”</p><p>Hawkmon, realizing what was about to happen, took a step forward to follow her. “Miyako-san…”</p><p>But it was too late.</p><p>“You sure have some nerve!” said Miyako, “Sneaking around behind us, and then acting like you’re entitled to an interview like that! Sure, if you want to talk about us and the Digital World we’d be happy to talk about it, but right now you’re the one being invasive! What a hypocrite! If we end up having that interview after all, I bet <em>you’re</em> gonna be the one to slander us with all kinds of libel in ways that you personally like — “</p><p>Mimi came up from behind Miyako. “Miyako-chan.”</p><p>Seeing Mimi, Miyako immediately stopped her tirade. “…Mimi…-san…”</p><p>Mimi walked over to the Toucanmon and bent over him, with a smile plastered on her face.</p><p>“We’ll give you that interview if you want. But you’d better listen to what we have to say, and not use it for anything bad, or sneak around like you just did. Okay~?”</p><p>She bent down even closer to the Toucanmon and Wanyamon, a strange, mildly threatening aura emanating from her as she continued to smile (ostensibly) sweetly at them.</p><p>The Toucanmon gulped.</p><p>“F-Fine! Just how I’d like it!”</p>
<hr/><p>Mimi and Palmon ended up taking over the interview, pulling the Toucanmon and Wanyamon over to the side to talk to them. Miyako suspected that she’d deliberately tried to keep them out of the way of the other two American Chosen, who were sitting on two rocks looking glumly at their own eggs.</p><p>Ever since Miyako had made her tirade at the Toucanmon, they hadn’t made eye contact with her at all, and Miyako realized that she’d probably scared them off.</p><p>But how was she supposed to approach them in this state?</p><p>She watched as Mimi continued to handle the two reporters, with her usual trademark “buttering-them-up” manner. <em>Mimi-san really is amazing. </em></p><p>“What’s with that face?”</p><p>Daisuke walked up to where Miyako was sitting, standing over her and looking rather comparatively blasé.</p><p>Miyako’s first instinct was to go <em>none of your business!</em>, but Hawkmon interjected to expose her.</p><p>“Miyako-san’s upset about what happened earlier with the reporters.”</p><p>Miyako opened her mouth to protest about Hawkmon exposing her, but realized she didn’t really have a case to protest, and sighed instead.</p><p>“I really went off hard there…Kind of made a fool of myself. How embarrassing…” She broke out into the awkward smile she had whenever she was laughing at herself, and sighed.</p><p>“Huh…” said Daisuke. He went ahead and sat down next to her, with V-mon jumping up on his other side.</p><p>There was an awkward moment of silence between them as they both faced the two younger Chosen Children on the other side. The two of them were now talking more to each other than they were engaging Daisuke and Miyako.</p><p><em>So much for helping out Mimi-san,</em> thought Miyako. She’d called them for the specific purpose of helping them get used to things, but not only had she messed up and intimidated them on the first meeting, she’d gone off and made a fool of herself in front of them, and she was certain that they must be more intimidated by her thanks to her own actions. It was one thing to not be helping very much, but she’d actually made the situation <em>worse</em>. Maybe it would have been better if she hadn’t come at all…</p><p>Daisuke broke the silence.</p><p>“You know…” he said, “you were right, though.”</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>“I think so, too!” said V-mon, chiming in with a somewhat more cheerful tone. “I mean, he was being a jerk!”</p><p>“Personally, I <em>really</em> wanted to punch him in the face, but that would have probably been bad in front of Mimi-san and the other two,” said Daisuke. “Man, it’s just not fair…”</p><p>The two of them sat there side by side, their faces lodged in their palms. V-mon and Hawkmon accompanied them on either side, creating a line of melancholy sitting on a row of rocks.</p><p>The awkward silence was pierced by a sudden crack.</p><p>“A-Ah…”</p><p>One of the other kids was staring at their egg, which was now starting to shake and show cracks in it.</p><p>“Aaaaaaaaaaah!” said Miyako, standing up and running over to stare at it. “It’s hatching, isn’t it?!”</p><p>The egg started to glow, and out popped a small baby Digimon that looked like a large black seed. The seed-like Digimon jumped into its partner’s arms, and the young boy was suddenly overcome with obvious emotion, bursting into tears.</p><p>“Hey, congratulations!” said Daisuke, bending over to take a closer look.</p><p>Miyako continued to watch the boy being completely immersed in tears — it was of course natural to expect some kind of emotional reaction, but this was definitely quite drastic, beyond what she would normally expect.</p><p>“Hey…” she said, taking care to soften her tone when speaking to the boy. “Are you okay?”</p><p>The boy looked up from his Digimon, and smiled at her — one tinged with awkwardness, and very light, but still, most certainly, a smile.</p>
<hr/><p>It was time for them to part, and they all exchanged greetings and formalities, but through all of it, Miyako’s head was hung low. At the end of the day, she hadn’t really talked to the two kids much at all, and all she could think was that she’d failed at the task Mimi had given her.</p><p>
  <em>Maybe I shouldn’t have come here after all…</em>
</p><p>“Miyako-chan? Are you okay?”</p><p>Miyako’s thought process was interrupted by Mimi looking at her and tilting her head.</p><p>“Ah, ah, it’s nothing! Um…I’m sorry for not helping much today!!”</p><p>Mimi laughed lightly. “What are you talking about? You helped a lot.”</p><p>“Well, not really…” said Miyako, sheepishly. “I wish I could have talked to them more…”</p><p>“I think it was good for them to meet more Chosen Children, so I’m glad you could come. More is better! You were a great help, and it was more than enough that you even took your time to come down, so you should be proud, and don't worry about anything.” Mimi winked at her, turned around, and waved. “Bye!”</p><p>Miyako waved at the three American kids slowly as their backs went further and further away.</p><p>V-mon looked up at Daisuke. “Hey, Daisuke…what do you wanna do now?”</p><p>“Hm, I wonder…” said Daisuke, pulling out his flip phone. “You know, I wonder if Ken’s done with soccer practice; maybe we should get something together? Do you have something going on?”</p><p>“Ah, no, I don’t…”</p><p>Miyako hung her head a little while Daisuke typed into her phone.</p><p>“Miyako-san, don’t feel down,” said Hawkmon. “We all did our best today. Let’s join Daisuke-san and the others and get something good to eat.”</p><p>Hearing Hawkmon’s words, Miyako sighed a little.</p><p>
  <em>Yeah. We did our best today.</em>
</p><p>“He said he can meet up with us,” said Daisuke, putting his phone down. He turned to Miyako and saw her still looking down on the floor.</p><p>“Hey.”</p><p>Miyako looked up at him.</p><p>“Yo. Cheer up. It’s not like you to be down like this.” Daisuke stared intently at her, his gaze not moving from her at all.</p><p>Miyako took in the stare he was putting her way, feeling like it was piercing through her and propping her back on her feet. She nodded, and took a deep breath.</p><p>“All right! Ken-kun’s waiting for us! Let’s go!”</p><p>She pumped her fist, and the two Digimon with them followed suit. Daisuke put his hands on his hips and laughed.</p><p>And with that settled, the four of them headed back to Odaiba.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Those who followed the last version of this fic may recognize the initial scenario from the chapter "Interview and Interview", although it ultimately went in a very different direction than the original incarnation for various reasons. I deliberately did not reference the old version when writing this one (hence why even the choice of Digimon changed as well), so the tone ended up very different as well...</p><p>While the last three chapters have been in rather mundane territory, I think next chapter will be where more "dramatic" things will start popping in, and we'll get a more of the vibrance Miyako is known for (since these chapters so far have been more on the introspective end). But, well, this kind of variety is what we love about Miyako, right?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. December 2004 - Christmas Counseling</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Miyako learns about some sudden turns in relationships surrounding her, and starts to wonder about how that applies to herself.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hikari and Miyako were cheerfully walking down the Odaiba pier, carrying a bunch of shopping bags, while Tailmon and Hawkmon were accompanying them and helping them carry some of the load. The winter air had a refreshing but piercing feel to it even during the midday, but despite that, Miyako ended up buckling and dropping the bags.</p><p>"Huff…huff…this…is really heavy…"</p><p>Hikari, Tailmon, and Hawkmon stopped and looked behind them.</p><p>"Are you okay, Miyako-san?" said Hikari. "Should we take a break?"</p><p>Miyako laughed at herself and placed a hand on her head. "Yeah, maybe…"</p><p>"Hikari, it's almost dinnertime," said Tailmon. "Shouldn't we stop and get something to eat?"</p><p>The four of them all looked at each other. They hadn't been planning to stay out this late, and eating out would certainly be a cut into their already-thinning budgets, but their Christmas shopping had taken longer than expected, and they still weren't done. And Tailmon was right; they hadn't eaten in a while…something punctuated only when Hawkmon's stomach started rumbling as well.</p><p>Hawkmon matched his partner in laughing awkwardly and tucking his wing behind his head. "I would have to agree."</p><p>"Then let's find a nice place to eat!" said Hikari, putting her hands together and smiling. "Here, Miyako-san, let me help you with the bags…"</p><p>Hikari picked up some of the bags that Miyako had dropped and walked on forward again, leading the charge to look for a restaurant.</p><p><em>How is she carrying them without even breaking a sweat?!</em>, thought Miyako, but she decided not to dwell on the topic.</p>
<hr/><p>They stopped at a restaurant with an ocean view, setting down the shopping bags under the table. Miyako's legs felt tingly after all of the exhaustion of the day's walking, and realized just how long they'd been shopping that day.</p><p>"Welcome," said a waiter, who had come to their table. He glanced at the two of them, his eyes clearly looking over Tailmon and Hawkmon, who were looking expectantly back at him. "Are…are they…"</p><p>"They'll be dining as well," said Hikari, sweetly, with her best and most cheerful "don't question us" expression on her face.</p><p>Miyako couldn't help but marvel. While Digimon were hardly <em>commonplace</em> in Tokyo by this point, their existence was now somewhat understood to the extent that they could bring Digimon with them without accusations of bringing in "weird animals" or anything of the sort, doing something like Hikari had just done with no hesitation whatsoever took guts, and even though this wasn't the first time she'd done this, Miyako wondered how she could pull it off so easily.</p><p>After they'd all finished ordering, they immediately got caught up in idle gossip, chatting about their friends and family and recent events. Hikari had an odd ability to make even the most innocuous things sound scandalous whenever she said it, so the four of them were constantly bursting into laughter.</p><p>It was after they had already gotten their food when Hikari brought up the topic.</p><p>"Did you hear? Yamato-san and Sora-san broke up."</p><p>Miyako's fork dropped onto the plate with a <em>clang</em>, to the point Hawkmon jolted in surprise.</p><p>"You're kidding!"</p><p>"I'm not, they really did."</p><p>Miyako shook her head in disbelief. Yamato and Sora had been dating for something like…two years now? And while the two of them had generally kept their dating life rather private, Miyako had already embedded their relationship as one of the many, many facts of life surrounding her that the sudden development caught her off guard.</p><p>She pursed her lip. "Was it Yamato-san? Did he break Sora-san's heart? If he did, I'm gonna have to go up to him and give him a piece of my mind — "</p><p>"Actually," said Tailmon, "I heard it was actually Sora who broke up with <em>him</em>."</p><p>"<em>Haaaaaaaaaaah?!</em>"</p><p>Miyako's eyes were widened in shock. Hawkmon, next to her, chipped in, "That is quite unexpected, indeed."</p><p>"I was really surprised, too," said Hikari. "I don't really know what happened, but that's what I heard."</p><p>"Geez, that's incredible…" Miyako picked up her fork, took a bite of her food, swallowed, and sighed dramatically. "So is this going to make things really awkward for all of us, or what?"</p><p>"Well, the last time I saw them, they seemed to be having a pretty normal conversation…" said Hikari. "I was surprised. I thought they'd be avoiding each other, or something, but they seemed to be pretty comfortable…"</p><p>"Huh…So there wasn't a huge fight?"</p><p>Hikari shook her head. "I don't know, but…"</p><p>There was an awkward silence between the four of them at the table for several moments.</p><p>"So if they didn't get in a fight, then…what? They seemed like they were getting along well together, and Sora-san doesn't seem like the kind of person who'd cut someone off…I don't get it…I don't get it…"</p><p>The more she thought about it, the more her head spun, and Miyako held her hands up to her head in frustration. Hawkmon, next to her, looked at her worriedly while sipping juice out of a straw.</p><p>"Mm…"</p><p>Hikari folded her hands and looked down at the table. She paused for a second, took a breath, and started speaking slowly.</p><p>"Actually…I think I understand how she feels."</p><p>"Huh?" said Miyako. She leaned in a little. "Hikari-chan, do you know something?"</p><p>"Not about Sora-san in particular, as much as…" Her voice trailed off.</p><p>Tailmon looked up at Hikari. "Hikari…is it okay?"</p><p>Hikari closed her eyes, nodded, and took another breath.</p><p>"The truth is…I tried dating Takeru-kun for a while."</p>
<hr/><p>It was a statement that carried so many things in only so few words.</p><p>Had Miyako not been listening closely, she would have probably instantly burst into something like a "Whoa! Congratulations!" on the spot, but the somber tone of Hikari's statement, devoid of cheerfulness, had been <em>just</em> enough to force her to pay attention to what Hikari had more precisely said. <em>Tried</em> dating, past tense, <em>for a while</em>. The impact of the words didn't register to Miyako quite immediately, but it was enough to throw her off.</p><p>"…Huh?" said Miyako, not really able to parse any more of a coherent response than this.</p><p>Hikari nodded.</p><p>"It…was for only a month. Takeru-kun and I sat down and thought about it, because we hang around together all of the time, so we thought…maybe we should try it."</p><p>Miyako mulled on Hikari's words.</p><p>Hikari and Takeru had been hanging out together for as long as she'd known them, and, inevitably, "you two would make such a cute couple!" had crossed her mind multiple times throughout the years. But the one time she had brought it up to Hikari, something like a year prior, Hikari had responded with a "no, it's nothing like that…", and the air had gotten so stiff around her that it had struck fear into her. Since then, she had never dared to breach the subject in front of her again, and although she had never quite rid herself of the sentiment, she had treated it like a "Hikari landmine" thereafter.</p><p>"…So, what happened?" said Miyako, treading cautiously.</p><p>Hikari stared forward, technically looking at Miyako, but her eyes unfocused like she was looking at nothing in particular.</p><p>"We started going out on dates…we went to restaurants and stuff, and to go see a movie. That went on for a month. It was fun, but…something was…off."</p><p>"Something off?"</p><p>Hikari's gaze did not move or focus. With every word she said she slowed down, as if each word were harder and harder to say.</p><p>"I don't know how to describe it…But if I tried holding his hand, something felt strange…And then…"</p><p>Her voice completely faltered, and Miyako knew that she was at the point where she would have to actively prod if she wanted to get anything out of Hikari.</p><p>"And then what?"</p><p>Hikari looked at Tailmon, who nodded at her, and looked back, this time at Miyako.</p><p>"I…didn't feel anything…"</p><p>She fell silent again.</p><p>Having known Hikari for almost three years now, Miyako had gotten herself into a habit of attempting to infer what Hikari said through the few words she was willing to give at times like these. She couldn't exactly be sure what "not feeling anything" meant in this situation, but she was able to make some guesses — firstly, that Hikari had most certainly been pushing herself too hard, and secondly, that she was blaming herself for this.</p><p>"So then, how did it break off?" said Miyako. "More importantly, are you two okay right now?"</p><p>"Oh, we're okay!" said Hikari, perking up as soon as she heard the second question. "We…we…"</p><p>Sensing that Hikari wasn't getting very far in verbalizing on her own, Tailmon intervened.</p><p>"The two of them had a proper talk about it, and they parted on good terms, with the conclusion that they hadn't been doing anything that they hadn't been doing before already."</p><p>Hikari nodded in agreement. "So we're still friends."</p><p>Miyako's mind was racing around the clock. Truthfully, even now that she thought about it, she had a hard time imagining Hikari and Takeru — at least, as she knew them right now — doing something super intimate and lovey-dovey. She'd figured they'd be more the type to subtly build up a relationship…but if what Hikari had said was true, even after a month, nothing had happened.</p><p>And if Takeru had agreed to this…Then that meant that he, also…</p><p>Hikari interrupted Miyako's thoughts.</p><p>"So…I think I understand how Sora-san feels. I don't know if the exact same thing happened, but…"</p><p>Miyako sighed, trying to take in all of the information. It really was a lot at once — especially because she had no idea how she was going to face Takeru next with this information. And even if Hikari had said that they were fine now, she couldn't help but worry if that really would be the case…</p><p>At a time like this, Miyako could only say the feelings she knew she felt for sure.</p><p>"Well…I think the important part is that if he's still someone important to you, then it's fine, right? And…" She fumbled around for the words, and then finished. "…You shouldn't blame yourself, Hikari-chan."</p><p>Hikari broke out into a slightly awkward laugh, and while she didn't say the words, Miyako could read them on your face.</p><p>
  <em>As always, you got me, Miyako-san.</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>Miyako lay on her bed, clutching her pillow, still drenched in exhaustion from the day's shopping trip. She and Hikari had eventually found a way to end their dinner on lighter topics, and had parted afterwards, but the contents of the conversation hadn't left her head.</p><p>"You seem troubled, Miyako-san," said Hawkmon, looking up at her from below the bed.</p><p>Miyako turned her head to look back at him.</p><p>"Yeah, I…I've been thinking about what Hikari-chan told me earlier."</p><p>"About Sora-san, and about her dating Takeru-san?"</p><p>"Yeah…" Miyako pulled her pillow in front of her so that she could clutch it while talking to him. "I was thinking about…what it means to be dating, I guess."</p><p>"What do you mean by that?"</p><p>"I guess, just, it was shocking to hear that both Sora-san and Hikari-chan went through breakups, and the reasons why…"</p><p>Hawkmon put a wing to his chin. "Is it unusual for humans?"</p><p>"Well…when you think about it, I guess it's not. It's nice if they don't happen, but middle school and high school relationships tend to break up a lot, don't they…"</p><p>"So is there a reason it's been troubling you in particular?"</p><p>Miyako paused a little to gather her thoughts.</p><p>"I guess…I've always been thinking, it would be really nice if someone cute noticed me, but after hearing what Hikari-chan said today, I wondered what I would do if one actually asked me out. I never really thought about it, because every time I met someone cute, I wasn't feeling up to actually asking them out or anything. But if I did…I wonder if I'd be able to manage it…"</p><p>"Do you think you wouldn't be able to?"</p><p>"Well, relationships are <em>hard</em>, I mean. There's a lot of risks you have to play and a lot of things you have to worry about, like Hikari-chan did. And…"</p><p>As she was searching her thoughts on how to phrase the intimidating nature of relationships, her eyes casually glossed over her closet in the corner.</p><p>A completely unrelated realization snapped into her head.</p><p>"…Ah! I forgot my hat at the restaurant! I <em>knew </em>something felt weird when I went out!"</p><p>She bolted up as fast as she could, and quickly started to put on as much winter clothing as she could, bolting out before there was even a chance at continuing the conversation.</p><p>"Miyako-san…" said Hawkmon, looking on sadly.</p>
<hr/><p>Miyako made it to the restaurant and retrieved the hat just before they'd closed, and she walked out, slightly panting. She could have easily waited until the next day at that point, but she knew she would never be able to let it go and would stress out over it the entire night if she didn't address it immediately.</p><p>Still trying to relieve the exhaustion, Miyako slowly made her way home at snail's pace, with the night having gotten quite dark. As she went past the Decks Tokyo Beach mall, she turned her head to look at the Christmas tree at the side.</p><p>"Oh…!"</p><p>Entranced by the tree, she walked up to the railing and took a good look at it. She was still quite a distance from it as long as she was staying behind the railing, but she could still tell that it was very big.</p><p>"…Miyako-san!"</p><p>Miyako heard a voice, and turned to see where it was coming from. It was Ken, standing quite a distance from her on the mallside, holding Wormmon in his arms.</p><p>"Ah! Ken-kun!"</p><p>Ken started walking up to her, up until he became close enough for them to have a proper conversation.</p><p>"Were you with Daisuke?"</p><p>"Yeah. I'm going home right now — it's getting late, and my parents are probably going to worry about me."</p><p>"Right, right."</p><p>Miyako smiled and laughed lightly, but as she finished, a horrible, horrible thought started poking through her head.</p><p>
  <em>He</em>
  <em>'s cute, isn't he?</em>
</p><p>The realization of what she had just thought caused her to physically shiver.</p><p>"Miyako-san? Are you okay?"</p><p>"Y-Yeah! I'm fine! Sorry, it's just a little cold and I underdressed a bit, haha…"</p><p>As she covered it up with awkward laughter, the intrusive, sudden thought was starting to cave into something much worse, the worst combination of a random thought that otherwise would have vanished as quickly as it came, and the conversation she'd had earlier bringing up certain ideas in her head. <em>I mean, he</em><em>'s cute and smart and nice and there's nothing not to like, so there's no reason to </em>not<em> ask him out, right?</em><em>…</em></p><p>
  <em>Argh, no, this is awful! That</em>
  <em>'s creepy! You can't think of your friends that way!</em>
</p><p>It took Miyako all of her effort to not physically shake her head angrily at herself, and she bit her lip. By the time she'd managed her thoughts and ironed them out, she noticed that Ken was staring at her.</p><p>
  <em>Ah, how embarrassing.</em>
</p><p>"Um…Miyako-san…"</p><p>Ken looked like he had something he wanted to say, but faltered.</p><p>"…Ken-kun?"</p><p>"Ah! Ah, it's nothing." He smiled cheerfully, and Miyako thought for another second, <em>dammit, he really is cute. </em>"Sorry! I…I need to go, or else I really will be worrying my parents. I'll see you again at the Christmas party, right?"</p><p>"Right, right," said Miyako, putting on her best smile back at him. "See you later, then!"</p><p>She waved at him as he started walking off.</p><p>It was true that he was cute — in fact, Miyako had no qualms about often calling him that to his face as a compliment, because in her mind, there was nothing wrong with openly saying things that were so obviously the truth. But thinking of him <em>that</em> way was a completely different matter. She remembered that time he'd been a stranger to her, and she'd found him cute and attractive and smart, but once he'd actually joined them and become an actual <em>friend</em>…</p><p>If she were to ask him out now…her relation to him wasn't like that of Hikari and Takeru, or Sora and Yamato, and if he were to reject her, or they were to break up, it'd probably permanently damage their relationship, and they'd never be able to face each other the same way again. Was it really worth risking that?</p><p>She looked down at the hat that she had just picked up from the restaurant. It was not the first, and most certainly would not be the last, time she would leave something behind and cause a fuss like this. If she were to attempt dating him — assuming he even said yes, which wasn't even that easy to believe —</p><p>
  <em>I</em>
  <em>'d just end up burdening him all the time, wouldn't I…</em>
</p><p>She picked herself up, and continued making her way back home.</p><p>
  <em>Yeah. Romance really is too complicated for a middle-schooler, isn</em>
  <em>'t it?</em>
</p><p>She laughed at herself at the absurdity and the train of thought she had just gone through. On one hand, it was the kind of harsh truth that should seem difficult to bear…</p><p>…But on the other hand, perhaps it was a relief that she could simply put the idea of dating out of her mind for at least a few more years.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>First of all, before you get any ideas: yes, this fic is intended to be 02 epilogue compliant! I'm sure the revelation of Sora and Yamato breaking up offscreen is probably a huge slap in the face to those who are reading it expecting to see the relationship. Actually, the reason this is happening is because I felt like a breakup at some point in their relationship was feasibly believable, and I thought it would be interesting to see how they manage to work it out again sometime in the future. Although I can't really pry too much into the two's private life from Miyako's perspective, but I hope it'll be a resolution that the Yamato/Sora fans out there will also get to enjoy.</p><p>My deeper apologies go to the Takeru/Hikari fans reading this, who might have experienced what was described in this chapter as a slap in the face. For that I have no defense, except that I felt like it might be a feasible sequence of events within the timeline this fic takes place...ah, yeah. I'm...I'm very sorry.</p><p>In regards to Ken and Miyako...well...you'll have to wait and see.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. April 2005 - Convenience Store Woes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A late night of Miyako working at the convenience store ends up involving a confrontation with her sister's partner, and the start of something happening...</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Odaiba was a small town, and running a small convenience store in the residential area meant that the customers were generally comprised of regulars. That didn’t mean that new people were rare, of course, especially considering how many people came to the island for fun; it was simply that the ratio of familiar people to the ratio of weirdos coming in and being difficult customers was high enough that working the counter at the i-Mart was more boring than anything else.</p><p>Miyako sighed irritably while gazing out the windows of the convenience store, with Poromon sitting on the desk next to her. Next to Poromon was a Puwamon — Chizuru’s partner, deep in conversation with Poromon about various things. Chizuru had been in the middle of studying, and had left Puwamon with Miyako so that he wouldn’t get bored, but Miyako couldn’t really see how being down here was any less boring than up there.</p><p>It was getting late at night, and Miyako tapped her finger on the counter impatiently, thinking that she wanted to get back to studying herself. Of course, it wasn’t that she had some particular love for studying, but it seemed to beat being down at the shop doing nothing, and moreover, studying for her inevitably approaching high school entrance exams would at least feel like she’d done something productive.</p><p>The automatic doors of the store opened, and a middle-aged man hobbled in slowly. Both of the bird Digimon on the counter swiveled around to look at him, and Miyako followed suit, tilting her head in the process. Judging by the hour and the way the man was clearly off-balance as he walked in, it was easy to tell that he was drunk.</p><p>Miyako raised an eyebrow as she kept an eye on him, closely watching to see if he did anything that merited kicking him out. With any luck, he would make it to the counter, buy something half-drunkenly, and make his way out. If she were a little less on the lucky side, he’d probably be unable to pay the right amount of money and she’d have to kick him out. And in the worst-case scenario…well, she didn’t want to think about that one.</p><p>Both Poromon and Puwamon seemed to have finished their conversation, and were also eyeing the man nervously.</p><p>“Miyako-san…” whispered Poromon. “What should we do in this situation?”</p><p>Trying (badly) to give off the image of an attentive clerk, Miyako did not reply, but continued to keep her gaze fixated on the man.</p><p>He paced back and forth up the aisles, staring at the snacks and dried instant food cups as if he were inspecting them. As Miyako continued to eye him suspiciously, she figured that he wasn’t just a <em>little</em> drunk, but <em>very</em> drunk, and her anxiety level started to slowly rise. She and the two Digimon watched in silence, nervous about what might happen next.</p><p>After a fashion, the man made his way to the counter, his legs still wobbling, and with nothing actually in hand. He looked at Miyako, then at the two Digimon, and said (his breath reeking of alcohol), “Y’know, that’s r-real unsanitary, right? Those birds are gonna poop in the store or somethin’. You should kick ‘em out, or else someone’s gonna call the health department…”</p><p>Having bought absolutely nothing, the man hobbled out of the store.</p><p>Miyako, Poromon, and Puwamon stared at the door, taken aback. After about thirty seconds of registering what had just happened, Miyako suddenly grit her teeth and angrily made a <em>hrrrrrrrgh</em> noise.</p><p>“I’m going outside!”</p><p>“But, Miyako-san, the store — ”</p><p>“If someone comes in I’ll come back in too. It’ll just be a moment.”</p><p>Before Poromon could stop her further, Miyako angrily bolted outside the convenience store doors.</p>
<hr/><p>Standing right outside the doors in case a customer actually came in, Miyako quickly whipped out her phone and angrily started texting Hikari.</p><p>
  <em>This obviously drunken dude came into our store and called Poromon and Puwamon unsanitary birds! Can you believe it?!</em>
</p><p>And sent.</p><p>A full two minutes passed, but there was no reply. Miyako sighed, realizing that Hikari was probably in the middle of studying at the moment. She pulled out her phone, thinking about hitting up Iori next to hear out her rant, but ultimately thought better of it and put her hand down.</p><p>
  <em>Yeah, I probably shouldn’t just go around texting everyone about this…Hikari-chan will get back to me in a few hours anyway.</em>
</p><p>It was irritating. Among her circle of friends, there weren’t that many she could bring up a Digimon-related topic and properly expect them to understand, and even the few she knew had been getting progressively busier and busier — even Iori was going to be entering middle school the next year. Of course, in the instant case, all she needed to do was be a bit more patient…but patience was not typically a word in Miyako’s vocabulary, and the only thing she had left to do was stew in her annoyance.</p><p>Finally realizing that standing outside wasn’t going to help anything, and that it really was a little cold out there, Miyako sighed again and made her way back into the store.</p>
<hr/><p>Poromon and Puwamon were both gazing in her direction as she walked back in.</p><p>“Miyako-san…” said Poromon, clearly wanting to say something in response to Miyako’s frustration, but not quite sure how to address the elephant in the room. But as much as she knew he was doing his best to defuse her, Miyako couldn’t help but feel even more indignant somehow — <em>he’d</em> been the one who was insulted, and now the fact that he was trying to comfort her instead just made her even angrier at herself.</p><p>Miyako resumed her position behind the counter and slumped forward in irritation, fully aware that it was an inappropriate position for her to be in as someone tending the store, but too irritated to care by this point.</p><p>There was a silence so thick that one could make syrup out of it. The silence lingered on for what seemed like an eternity, until Puwamon suddenly spoke up.</p><p>“Something’s bothering you.”</p><p>Miyako brought herself up from her slump with a jolt and turned to face Puwamon.</p><p>It had been a little around two years since Chizuru had become partnered to Puwamon, but she had never been much of a talker, and Miyako had never managed to get much of an impression of her — other than the fact that she found it ironic that Chizuru, who was normally chatty and often even gossipy, would be partnered to someone so quiet. She did seem to get along quite well with Hawkmon, and of course Chizuru herself often seemed to have conversations with her, but Miyako herself had rarely, if ever, gotten much of a chance to deal with her all that much. And yet here she was, staring directly at her.</p><p>“Not really…”</p><p>“No, something’s definitely bothering you.”</p><p>Her words were blunt and to the point.</p><p><em>Was she always like this?</em> said Miyako, starting to get a little irritated at this, but not exactly in the mood to argue after what had just happened. Wanting to get the conversation over with, she waved a hand and said, “That guy pissed me off, that’s all.”</p><p>There was an awkward pause.</p><p>Puwamon, seeming to not even acknowledge the pause, simply added, bluntly, “Chizuru says you’ve been looking worried about lately.”</p><p>“And how’s that <em>her</em> business?!” snapped Miyako on instinct, before catching herself and sighing. Puwamon’s expression did not change, and Miyako, still not in the mood to argue much, sighed and figured it wouldn’t be a bad thing to at least keep the conversation going, if only to break the awkwardness.</p><p>“I guess it just sucks that everyone’s been busy lately. And this is going to be the year I have to start thinking about high school too, and that means <em>I’m</em> gonna be busy from here on out. And then…”</p><p>She fell silent, wondering how much she wanted to tell Puwamon. If it had just been herself and Poromon, she would have freely told him the rest with no reservation — lately she hadn’t gotten to see Hikari or the others much, or at least as much as she had in elementary school, and she was dreading the day it would get worse once she went to high school — especially because it wasn’t very likely that they’d all be going to the same one. And Iori, a full three years younger than her, was never going to be in the same school as her anyway.</p><p>Of course, Miyako was perfectly capable of making friends no matter where she went. But when it came to <em>these</em> friends in particular, there was something that felt…<em>off</em> about the way things were going…</p><p>“Are you worried about going to high school?”</p><p>The question was brief and pointed.</p><p>Miyako spent a long pause before answering the question. The truth was, high school seemed pretty unpleasant, no matter how much she thought about it — a year ago she’d thought it’d be exciting, like entering one’s spring of youth, but the more she approached the idea, the more unpleasant it felt. Everything felt like a stepping stone; to get into one school that would be good for getting into university, and then career, and then…</p><p>Even though she wasn’t adverse to letting Chizuru know about things she was worried about at times, admitting this out loud just felt wrong. She looked at Poromon, who only looked nervously back at her — if only she could be alone with <em>him</em>!</p><p>The conversation was interrupted by the doors opening and Chizuru herself walking in, looking tired.</p><p>“Ah! Chizuru!”</p><p>Chizuru tilted a head to acknowledge Miyako, and sighed. “Evening. You’ll be off shift soon, right? I came to pick up Puwamon.”</p><p>Puwamon jumped into her arms, and Miyako gave back a weak smile. “How’s studying?”</p><p>“Awful. Hate it. It’s the <em>worst</em>.” Chizuru put both hands against the counter, leaned back a little, and let out another exasperated sigh. “You know, Miyako…you should enjoy your time right now. High school ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.”</p><p>Hearing this, Miyako giggled, a little awkwardly. She looked at Puwamon, who was still staring straight at her.</p><p>
  <em>Maybe I overstepped my boundaries a bit…Puwamon was probably talking to me because Chizuru’s been worried.</em>
</p><p>“Well, good luck down here,” said Chizuru, taking Puwamon out and leaving. Miyako watched as the doors closed behind her.</p><p>“Miyako-san?” said Poromon. “Are you all right? You look somewhat disoriented.”</p><p>“Yeah, it’s fine…” said Miyako. “I think…I want to talk to Chizuru about a few things later.”</p>
<hr/><p>As the hour started going into unholy territory, Miyako yawned, wondering when she’d be able to leave. There weren’t many customers, and it was at the point where she really was drumming her fingers on the counter irritably.</p><p>As if responding to Miyako’s wish for <em>something</em> to happen, the doors opened.</p><p>In walked a black-haired girl looking something like Chizuru’s age, flanked by a woman. Miyako watched them closely as they went to the back and grabbed some large bottled drinks and brought them to the front. The girl’s head was turned down, with her only looking up at Meiko through her bangs and a pair of rectangular glasses — thick-framed ones, not the fashion-based pointed ones Miyako herself had experimented with some years prior.</p><p>“Five hundred yen,” said Miyako, raising an eyebrow at how demure the girl seemed to be.</p><p>As the girl started putting the money down, Miyako realized she was being glared at by the woman behind her — a tall, short-haired lady who looked thoroughly no-nonsense, and seemed to have a very displeased expression on her face. The moment she made eye contact with the woman, for some reason, a shiver went through Miyako’s spine. She’d initially assumed the woman must have been the girl’s mother, but right now, the aura didn’t seem that way…</p><p>The girl finished paying and bowed, thanked Miyako, and made her way out of the store with the bottles, the woman following her.</p><p>Miyako watched nervously as the door closed behind them, and looked at Poromon.</p><p>“Miyako-san, was that…”</p><p>“Yeah, I…”</p><p>Miyako gulped.</p><p>“I don’t know why, but something felt strange about those two…”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, it's now come to the time where I have to address the elephant in the room. This fic is meant to be canon-compliant, but those of you who are perceptive have already noticed that there's a certain divergence that happens at the end of this chapter. At some point, once I got into the territory of 2005, I was inevitably going to have to address this.</p><p>When I initially started writing the first two versions of this fic, Adventure, 02, the 02 epilogue, and their related media were all we had to work with, and *all* I reasonably expected to have to work with -- at the time there really was no reason to believe that they were going to suddenly announce yet another Adventure sequel. While I was already slipping into fanfic hiatus at the time, I made the decision to hold off until the series had finished before I attempted the fic again, and I made this decision before said series in question had even started at all. Of course, I know that there's no sin in fics having divergences from canon, especially in such unexpected situations, but in the case of Glasses Girl, I had originally conceived of the fic as a personal "challenge" to adhere to existing canon as much as possible (including the very convoluted ball of yarn that the Adventure timeline could often be). That also meant working within the constraints of everything I like and don't like, and bringing as much out of them as I could while staying within those constraints.</p><p>My initial plan was that I wanted to adhere to said series as much as I could, regardless of however I felt about it, but after scrutinizing all three series and trying to make it work...I can't. There's just too many things that starkly contradict each other that nothing consistent can be made by trying to utilize all of it -- in terms of timeline, characterization, worldbuilding, you name it, nearly every factor has *something* that I inevitably have to, in some sense, "take a side" and choose to disregard some or all of one, because I simply cannot make them work in conjunction with each other. To a certain degree, I'm capable of twisting things around to accommodate contradictory things -- it's not like the franchise up to 02 didn't have these to some extent -- but in this case, they are so plentiful, and so starkly in contradiction, that I can't work like this, and I especially can't work like this for a fic that I write as a hobby. In the end, this is a fic that was originally conceived for Adventure and 02, and so, if only for logistics reasons, this fic is not going to be fully tri.-compliant. Or in other words, if the series cannot be consistent with Adventure and 02 itself, there's only so much I'm willing to try being compliant with it. (Kizuna, which is *significantly* more consistent with Adventure and 02, will still be followed closely.) And, besides, it's *my* fic, so I get to do what I want!!...Right...?</p><p>Still, as you can see, there are certain aspects of it that are coming into play, and I do want to challenge myself to see how much of its narrative I can incorporate to make an interesting 2005 (short of making this fic start going in contradictory directions). Because of that, this chapter doesn't end super-conclusively -- the nature of what's about to happen is a lot more complex than anything that can be fit in only two short oneshots that take place in a year. So I hope I can show an interesting story in what's about to come, both in the parts that are the same and the parts that are different, although I must ask that you not expect some thrilling adventure narrative -- this is, before anything else, a coming-of-age story for Miyako, who was not very involved in the story matters in said series (...so to speak).</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. July 2005 - Mission Control</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Incapacitated and unable to help her friends during an important crisis, Miyako thinks about what she can do.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What an awful way to spend a summer…”</p><p>There was a light breeze coming out of the window, but, unable to fully enjoy it, Miyako slumped back into her bed and shoved her arms into the sheets. Poromon — whom Miyako had insisted, with as much verbal tooth and nail she could muster, be allowed to stay with her — responded by jumping onto her chest. Miyako responded by lightly clutching him and sighing, her expression still irritable.</p><p>The light breeze continued to blow through the window, but Miyako remained glued to her bed, unable to move out of it — not even if she’d wanted to.</p>
<hr/><p>It had all started with a request from Koushirou.</p><p>The point of concern was a new Chosen Child in Odaiba — or, more accurately, one who had just moved to Odaiba, a girl from Tottori named Mochizuki Meiko. She had transferred into Taichi’s school for the year’s school term, and had apparently brought with her a partner, Meicoomon. That alone would have been fine — Miyako’s seniors were always happy to greet new Chosen Children, especially ones like Meiko, who seemed to not have much exposure to other Chosen Children beforehand.</p><p>But it was not long before Koushirou had spotted something amiss, and, about a month into the school year, he called Miyako personally to meet with him one night.</p><p>“…The truth is, Sora-san says that I’m being too harsh on her,” he’d said, the guilt from his position also clearly leaking into his words. “It’s possible that I am. I don’t want to suspect Mochizuki-san, either. But there are things that are worrying me, and I can’t get them out of my mind…”</p><p>“I won’t tell her, Izumi-senpai! Just let me know what’s going on!”</p><p> And so, Koushirou had handed Miyako the details.</p><p>Recently, there had been an epidemic of what Koushirou had termed “infected Digimon” — while he and the others were no stranger to the concept of things making Digimon randomly go berserk, this one carried a sudden risk of spreading from Digimon to Digimon. The outbreak had started in the Digital World, and was continuing to spread, and while Gennai and the other Agents were working around the clock with other Digimon in the area to get berserker cases under control while trying to prevent further infectious spread, there was only so much they could do — especially when all of the Chosen Children were now being advised to stay out of it for risk of their own Digimon being infected. “If one of your Digimon gets involved, it’ll become a whole new problem.”</p><p>But having limited access to the Digital World posed a serious problem, because limited entrance to the Digital World purely to prevent exhausting their partners was starting to reach its limits, and moreover, it severely restricted what Koushirou and the others were able to do about the crisis. Miyako had known about this for a while, and had offered her help whenever she could, but even with all the help he could have reasonably gotten, Koushirou had started to reach wit’s end. For the last few months, it had been in the back of her mind, but there was little they had been able to do.</p><p>But today, Koushirou was here with a clue —</p><p>It had already been strange how the crisis had started exactly around the same time Mochizuki Meiko had transferred in, but stranger coincidences had happened. The problem was her behavior — that every time she seemed to be asked about something related to her partner, or how she became a Chosen Child, she would suddenly refuse to say anything. That alone still meant little, because it didn’t have any relevance to the situation, but as the crisis continued to escalate, it seemed that she was hiding <em>more</em>. And moreover, Taichi, who attended her school and lived in the same apartment building, had started noticing that a strange woman was starting to visit Meiko every so often — one that Meiko refused to give much information about.</p><p>There were too many factors that didn’t track that it was eating away at Koushirou’s thoughts, and finally, he had no choice but to consult Miyako about this.</p><p>It was only natural that Miyako would jump at the chance to do something to help out, and she didn’t hesitate to disseminate the information among her fellow friends to figure something out. A bit of snooping out and crawling around stealthily turned up the name “Himekawa Maki” associated with the strange woman hanging around Odaiba. Once they’d had that info, they started following one lead after the next, trying to figure out the background behind Mochizuki Meiko’s moving to Odaiba, and what the woman had in relation to her.</p><p>But all of that had been interrupted so quickly —</p><p>All it had taken was a single mail, sent from what had seemed to be Takeru’s email address, asking to meet him and Hikari in the Digital World after school. In retrospect, they should have noticed something earlier — the fact they’d suggest something so dangerous without further explanation was suspicious. But the other four had been so ready to easily trust anything Takeru and Hikari asked them to do that they didn’t once consider the idea that the email may not have actually been from them at all.</p><p>They had only barely stepped into the Digital World when a huge explosion engulfed them.</p>
<hr/><p>Their partners’ quick thinking and action saved them from sustaining anything like bone fractures, but nevertheless, it hurt to even move, and — several profuse apologies from Takeru and Hikari later, even though “being impersonated through email” was hardly their fault in the slightest — that was how Miyako and the others had ended up utterly bedridden. She had been spared a chewing out by her family, who understood that she had more than enough pain in itself, but the even worse pain came from the fact that she was now a sitting duck in bed when things were escalating around her.</p><p>“You <em>can’t</em>, Miyako-san!” pleaded Hikari, the last time she had come to visit. “You’ll get even more hurt! You have to get rest!”</p><p>And as much as Miyako had wanted to protest, it was true; in that level of pain, charging into battle would only make things worse. Gritting her teeth, she’d extracted a promise from Hikari to at least keep her updated on how things were going.</p><p>Hikari and Takeru had kept that promise for a few weeks, but after some point, their correspondence over email had gotten more and more rare, and Miyako felt like she understood less and less. After a while, she had half a mind to drag herself to Takeru’s apartment — by this time the pain had mostly subsided, even though she was still most certainly in no condition to engage in active fighting — only to see him answering the door with very dark circles under his eyes.</p><p>“Ah…”</p><p>Miyako ultimately felt so bad about it that she didn’t have it in her to press the issue.</p>
<hr/><p>The lull broke one day with a message on her phone from none other than Ken.</p><p>
  <em>Miyako-san, I have a favor to ask. Is it possible for us to meet?</em>
</p><p>Miyako looked at her phone, staring at it, still trying to parse what was going on. For Ken to specifically ask to meet her, in particular, wasn’t something that usually happened, if it had even happened at <em>all</em> before. The fact that no details were given about what he wanted to talk about wasn’t helping matters. It was obvious it probably had to do with the recent situation, but beyond that…</p><p>Her hand shaking a little, she started typing a reply.</p><p>
  <em>It’s fine, but how?</em>
</p><p>Ken lived all the way in Tamachi, and, even if they were to meet halfway, everything was still sore enough that she wasn’t sure if she could make it all the way there. She imagined he probably wasn’t in fantastic condition either.</p><p>The reply came almost immediately.</p><p>
  <em>Is it okay if I come to your apartment? I have things I need to bring.</em>
</p><p>Miyako stared at the reply in even more shock. Ken? Coming to her apartment? Something was definitely going on; it felt strange…</p><p>“Miyako-san? What’s wrong?” said Poromon, sitting above her on the bed ledge.</p><p>“Ken-kun said he wants to come over…”</p><p>“Is that a problem?”</p><p>Miyako shook her head. “Not at all, it’s just…sudden.” She started typing her response, reading it aloud for Poromon’s benefit. “Okay. What time?”</p><p>And yet another quick reply:</p><p>
  <em>Please give me some time and I’ll contact you again.</em>
</p><p>Miyako started restlessly tossing her phone in her hands as she waited, her head swimming. Ken wanted to bring something, so clearly there was some important business — and yet he still wasn’t telling her what was going on. It wasn’t like him to be so cryptic.</p><p>And finally, thirty minutes later:</p><p>
  <em>Is it okay if I come right now?</em>
</p><p>Miyako’s heart skipped a beat. <em>Now?!</em></p><p>Ken, coming to <em>her</em> place, right now?</p><p>Miyako’s heart, already racing, started speeding up to twice the pace.</p><p>“He wants to come <em>right now</em>, he said…”</p><p>“Is that a problem?” asked Poromon, again.</p><p>Miyako took a deep breath, but shook her head again. “I’ll have to ask Mom and Dad, but…no, it’s not a problem. I want to know what he wants to talk about, after all.”</p><p>Shaking a little, she got out of the bed and started slowly making her way to the living room.</p>
<hr/><p>As it turned out, Ken had gotten a ride from Yamato’s father, who’d offered his car to pick him up. Miyako greeted them at the bottom floor, and found that Yamato — who was presumably accompanying them in having gotten his father to help — was also present in the van.</p><p>The moment Miyako laid eyes on Yamato, all of the panic about Ken coming over completely evaporated and was replaced with all of the other pent-up emotions she’d been carrying for the last few weeks.</p><p>“<em>Yamato-senpai!!</em>”</p><p>His name came out of her mouth so forcefully that Yamato was visibly taken back.</p><p>“Ah, Miyako-chan…”</p><p>Miyako breathed out heavily and pounded her foot on the ground (even though it hurt).</p><p>“What’s going on? Nobody’s telling us anything! We haven’t even heard from Takeru and Hikari in ages! Every time I email Izumi-senpai, he just emails back and says ‘please don’t worry about us’ and nothing else! Why aren’t we getting any straight answers?!”</p><p>“A-Ah…”</p><p>Yamato was at a loss for words. In the driver’s seat, Yamato’s father was looking outside the window, pretending to not be paying attention to the argument that had just erupted in the back of his van.</p><p>“Yamato-san,” said Ken, slowly getting out of the van and looking back at Yamato, “I know I already asked about this earlier, but as Miyako-san says, we would like to know more about what’s going on.”</p><p>Yamato hung his head a little. “I’m sorry. It’s been…really busy. There’s been all sorts of things going on, and it’s a long story. But — please don’t worry about us. I don’t want to see you two get pulled in after you just — ”</p><p>“<em>You can’t do this to us!!</em>”</p><p>Miyako started yelling again, with Yamato falling silent again at her words — he knew she was right, too.</p><p>“It’s true that it hurts right now, but it hurts even <em>more</em> to be useless! You can’t do this to us!! The one thing I can’t stand the most, is to not be able to help anyone…”</p><p>Indignant and angry, she stared right at Yamato as he continued to hang his head.</p><p>Ken broke the silence. “We’ll be needing to get to work, Yamato-san, but…we always want to help. Please don’t forget that.”</p><p>Yamato looked up at the two of them, and nodded slowly.</p><p>“…Yeah. Okay.”</p><p>Ken bowed, and closed the van door. The van drove off as the two watched.</p>
<hr/><p>“I yelled at Yamato-senpai…”</p><p>Miyako sat on the floor, sighing. Poromon and Wormmon were off to the side, catching up and chatting; Miyako looked at them, looking energetic and in good health, and felt a massive pang of guilt. The two of them were theoretically capable of going out and doing whatever they wanted, and yet, because their human partners were in poor physical condition, they were being nothing but a burden on them…</p><p>“I think we all feel the same way, Miyako-san,” said Ken, digging through a large bag he’d brought and pulling up out what looked like a laptop computer. “Have you been recovering well?”</p><p>“About as well as I can, anyway. Still hurts everywhere. Hopefully I’ll be back to normal before school starts again. You?”</p><p>“Roughly the same. It’s frustrating to not be able to go to soccer practice, though.”</p><p>Miyako watched as he started pulling a number of hardware peripherals out for the laptop he’d brought.</p><p>“So, what did you want to talk to me about?”</p><p>Ken looked around slowly, as if to check if there was anyone in earshot besides Miyako’s family, and started speaking in a slightly hushed manner.</p><p>“The truth is…I think I know why we were attacked.”</p><p>“Eh? Really?!”</p><p>Miyako blurted out the words, startling Poromon and Wormmon. Miyako realized that Ken was trying not to attract attention, and covered her mouth hastily.</p><p>“Well…Right before we were attacked, I was looking into that government woman that’s associated with Mochizuki Meiko. I looked into the name we were given, ‘Himekawa Maki’. But…it turned out that she had a gap in her records.”</p><p>“How’d you find that out…?”</p><p>“Well…this and that.” Ken bit his lip, and Miyako recognized the expression on his face; even when he understood it was important, Ken had never quite been fond of using questionably legal methods past a certain point. “It was strange. It’s not like the bureau she works for is supposed to be a confidential agency or anything, but all of her records prior to this year seemed to not exist. Like they were wiped away…”</p><p>“So then, what did you do?”</p><p>“That was when we got the email. The one that wasn’t actually from Takeru-kun or Hikari-san.” He placed the laptop on the table. “I think…someone figured out that I was about to hit on something, and wanted us out of the picture before we figured out more.”</p><p>“Do you think it might have been that? Maybe it was a coincidence?”</p><p>Ken shook his head. “The timing was too perfect…I had just found out about the gap, and it was the first major lead I’d gotten in a while…and…”</p><p>He shifted uncomfortably. Miyako tilted her head.</p><p>“…The truth is, I’m not normally good at these kinds of things, so I was sloppy in covering my tracks. I think they probably caught me looking in.”</p><p>
  <em>Ah.</em>
</p><p>“So…”</p><p>Ken nodded and hung his head. “…I don’t know for sure, but it may have been my fault we got caught.”</p><p>“No, no, no!” said Miyako. “Don’t blame yourself!! We don’t know for sure, after all, and besides…” She put a finger to her chin, thinking hard. “If they were able to catch us this quickly, that means they’ve been onto us for a while. They were probably monitoring us the whole time…”</p><p>Ken slowly nodded again — even his tendency to taken on too much blame or responsibility for things couldn’t kick in as much with such an uncertain situation, and Miyako could tell that him not lapsing into his usual humility meant that he’d likely also been suspecting the same thing.</p><p>“So that’s why I didn’t tell you this over mail. Someone involved in this might be watching us. But I want to look into this further. And, well…”</p><p>He suddenly looked away, and his voice took a slightly sheepish tone to it.</p><p>“…I’m not normally good at this kind of thing, and I figured you’d be better at finding a way to look into this discreetly. So…”</p><p>Miyako slowly took in the words, realizing what Ken was asking her to do. It was true that Miyako had some experience in doing under-the-table things with computers — it was one of those things that she’d rarely used since she wasn’t fond of causing trouble for others, but she’d been the type to pick up a ton of peripheral computer skills in case they ever came up useful somehow.</p><p>She firmly gripped the laptop Ken had put on the table. “I’ll do it.”</p>
<hr/><p>The two of them spent the rest of the day working on it, with Ken assisting Miyako on any minor assistant tasks that she asked for. Miyako was so absorbed in her work that she started functionally shutting everything else around her; she ended up not noticing how late it was getting into the night, nor her mother approaching Ken.</p><p>“Do you have a ride home? Are you going to be okay?”</p><p>“I’ve already told my parents I’ll be late, I’ll figure something out.”</p><p>“Since it’s so late, you could stay the night here, if your parents are okay with it.”</p><p>“Oh — oh, no, I don’t want to be a burden…”</p><p>“Please, don’t worry about it! You seem to be working on something very important, and Miyako’s brother recently moved out, so we have the spare room…”</p><p>Miyako failed to notice this entire conversation going on behind her, nor her sisters walking in and raising an eyebrow at them as they passed by.</p><p>After a while, Miyako suddenly realized Ken was trying to get her attention.</p><p>“Miyako-san.”</p><p>“O-Oh!!” She shook her head lightly to get herself re-oriented. “Sorry! Sorry, sorry, I was caught up in the work here…you were calling me?”</p><p>“Mm.” Ken had a slightly averted gaze. “You said, earlier, with Yamato-san, that you hated being useless.”</p><p>Miyako nodded, sighed, and took a drink of water from her nearby cup (it was her ninth one). “Yeah. Well…I like helping people, so I get really frustrated if there’s something I can’t do…”</p><p>There was a small pause as Ken took some time to think over his words.</p><p>“I think…” He turned to face her, not quite looking at her in the eye, but smiled. “I think, right now, you’re doing something that only you can do, Miyako-san. So please don’t be hard on yourself for being useless.”</p><p>Miyako mulled over what he had just said.</p><p>The truth was, she hadn’t expected Ken to be deferring to her on a computer topic, since he could do a good amount of what she could. She had generally accepted the fact that he was capable of taking care of so many things without her help that it hadn’t occurred to her that he might, at some point, need to defer to her for something. But now, it seemed, his general dislike of doing this kind of under-the-table activity meant that he’d probably not gotten as much experience in it. And now, <em>he</em> was asking her a favor…</p><p>The more she thought about it, the more relieved she was that she could finally do something to help Ken, and, more importantly, that — even despite her physical condition — there was <em>something</em> she could do for everyone else.</p><p>“Thanks, Ken-kun,” she said, trying to put her best smile on back for him — they both needed it, as much of it as they could get. “Let’s do our best.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I did, in fact, sit down and plan out a whole story as to what's going on back there -- even if not all of it made it into this chapter, it would be too glaring if the narrative behind it didn't make sense -- but I struggled a lot with determining how much of it this chapter should show. Obviously, with some major divergences going on here, it probably easily makes one wonder what epic crisis is going on in the background, but, in the end, not only am I personally not very good at writing "epic adventure" stories, that kind of story is also simply not what this fic is meant to be. So as far as this chapter was concerned, my goal was to provide just enough info to not make it seem completely abrupt or confusing while also keeping the story true to being about Miyako's personal state of mind first and foremost.</p><p>In actuality, I don't think the background narrative is *that* different from the one depicted in the relevant series; I simply wanted to shift things around just enough so that said events could happen while making logical sense with 02, the story in this fic, and how the characters would react to the given situation, but given the way things are, that "just enough" ended up being...well, a lot.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. February 2006 - The Girl From Tottori</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In the aftermath of an incident, Miyako has a heart-to-heart with someone heavily involved in it.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Miyako dragged her feet on her way home, her head swimming with all sorts of educational factoids. She was absolutely sure that all of the information she had just studied would evaporate from by the time of her entrance exams, but it wasn’t like she had any option besides pushing on. On top of the usual “going home after cram school” dread, it was pouring hard, and even with her umbrella, it was hard to not get wet. Physically and mentally exhausted, really, all she wanted was to just get home.</p><p>She was entertaining fantasies of a warm dinner when Poromon suddenly spoke up.</p><p>“Miyako-san, look.”</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>She saw him gesturing with his wing, and looked to where he was pointing.</p><p>Leaning on the side of a nearby building, apparently staring at nothing in particular and barely avoiding getting wet under a canopy, was a black-haired girl with thick-framed glasses. Miyako took a second to recognize her, but quickly realized who she was —</p><p>It was Mochizuki Meiko, the girl who had been at the center of the incidents from the year prior.</p>
<hr/><p>Even though several months had passed since the incident, and everyone had largely moved on as best as they could, so much of it still weighed on Miyako’s mind.</p><p>The information that Miyako had uncovered on Himekawa Maki’s background check had ultimately ended up very useful to Koushirou and led to the discovery of some vital clues, but ultimately, much of the resolution had happened outside Miyako’s own personal view. She’d had to hear everything secondhand from Takeru, Hikari, and the others — and so much of it sounded so wild that Miyako could hardly believe it was real. One of Gennai’s colleagues going rogue? An infection converted into a Digimon partner? A group hallucination of a summer camp? Chosen Children from before Taichi’s time, partnered to the Holy Beasts? It had been so progressively out there that Miyako would have been unable to believe it had it not come directly from her friends’ mouths.</p><p>But the part that she still was having emotional difficulty handling was the deaths.</p><p>As it turned out, the reason for all of her records having been wiped was that she had originally not been that much older than Taichi — the same age as one of his upperclassmen, in fact. That kind of data manipulation was child’s play when you were working alongside one of Gennai’s former colleagues — one of the Agents, who had turned against the others. The rest of the details were so plentiful and so mind-boggling that they made Miyako’s head spin, and she could hardly remember all of it, but one thing was for certain: Himekawa Maki had died in the ensuing fight.</p><p>It had not been a case like Oikawa, who had willingly sacrificed himself. Himekawa Maki, a Chosen Child, and a human with no chance of rebirth, had been killed. Hikari had already been heavily on the verge of tears while telling Miyako this story, and Miyako herself, despite not having been present to witness the incident, felt like something had stabbed her chest the moment she’d heard about it.</p><p>And ultimately, the direct source of the infections — and thus the brunt of the crisis itself — was related to Mochizuki Meiko’s own partner, resulting in everyone having no choice but to put her down. This situation of someone’s own Digimon partner having to be sacrificed was, unfortunately, a situation that Miyako had already seen before — but it didn’t make it hurt any less.</p><p>Meiko had apparently not spoken to Taichi or any of the others since. Miyako had the “benefit” of learning all of this as a third party, rather than having seen it directly. But now that she was looking directly at Mochizuki Meiko herself, the fact she had peripherally been involved and yet had never actually witnessed it made her wonder what she should do now.</p><p>Did she even have the right to approach her?</p>
<hr/><p>Miyako stayed there frozen for a second, before slowly making her way towards Meiko. The pouring rain made it hard to see her eyes through her glasses.</p><p>“Um…”</p><p>Meiko was so vacantly staring into space that it took a few moments for Miyako to successfully attract her attention. When she finally did notice, she looked directly at Meiko, but still did not make a single sound.</p><p>“Um…! I’m Inoue Miyako. I’m a friend of Hikari-chan and Takeru-kun. It’s awfully rainy and gloomy around here, so is it okay if we kill some time chatting?”</p><p>She went under the same canopy next to Meiko and put down her umbrella. The two of them stood there, Poromon in Miyako’s hands, with them not facing each other but out at the rain.</p><p>Meiko did not say anything for quite a while as the rain continued to pour, and then, after an excruciating while, slowly started speaking. Her voice was so soft that Miyako could only barely make it out through the rain.</p><p>“You’re…one of Hikari-san’s friends who got attacked?”</p><p>“Well, something like that.” The moment she’d said that, Miyako immediately realized what Meiko was probably about to say next (being around friends who often took too much responsibility onto themselves had trained her very well to pick up on this). “Ah! But that’s not your fault at all! We’re fine now anyway, so don’t worry about that.”</p><p>There was another long and awkward pause. Poromon, who had nothing to contribute to the conversation but still had a massive investment in it, was solemnly looking on.</p><p>Meiko spoke again.</p><p>“I…don’t have the right to be near you guys.”</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>Yet another pause.</p><p>“I’m not a Chosen Child.”</p><p>“H-Huh? But you have a Digivice, didn’t you? And a partner?”</p><p>Meiko slowly turned towards her bag — the first time Miyako had actually seen her start actively moving — and pulled out her Digivice. She stared at it as she spoke softly again.</p><p>“You were all chosen to save the Digital World. By ‘the one who seeks stability’.” She traced a finger absentmindedly over the Digivice. “But Mei-chan…Mei-chan and I…were chosen to destroy it. By ‘that man’. We weren’t even chosen by the same thing…So I’m not a Chosen Child like you are. I don’t have the right to be around you.”</p><p>Miyako took in all of the words Meiko had just said, but it didn’t take long for her to find one point she wanted to make a rebuttal to.</p><p>“…Well, actually, I wasn’t chosen by the same thing either.”</p><p>This seemed to catch Meiko a little off guard. Miyako, realizing that Meiko obviously didn’t want to talk about herself, started picking up the conversation with what she could say instead.</p><p>“Taichi-san and the others, including Hikari-chan and Takeru-kun, were certainly chosen by that entity, but…actually, I and some friends were picked for a different thing. Different reason too. Well, we still had to save the Digital World, but…”</p><p>The events of four years prior started to come back to her. For the most part, it had also been something Miyako had tried so hard to put behind her, but such an important year was not something one could easily forget, nor stop feeling the impact of.</p><p>“…We were chosen to fight someone. Someone who was also threatening the Digital World. It was funny how things happened…”</p><p>She awkwardly laughed a little bit, trying to lighten the mood a bit. Meiko did not say anything, but turned her head slowly towards Miyako, indicating she was listening.</p><p>“So we saved the Digital World from him. That was originally what we were chosen for, after all. But then after that…Well, after a while, to be honest, I don’t really remember if we were doing things for the same reason we were chosen anymore…” Miyako hastily shook her head as if to clear the spare thoughts out of it. “I don’t know. I’m getting off track. Taichi-san and the others were chosen for something completely different, so I don’t think it really matters who chose us. In fact, it’s hard to say what a ‘Chosen Child’ even is…”</p><p>Her voice started trailing off as she realized how disconnected her train of thought was – she was used to often talking a lot more than the other person in the conversation, but it was always awkward when she was the only one carrying it.</p><p>
  <em>Maybe this wasn’t a good idea…I might just be making it worse.</em>
</p><p>After yet another long and awkward pause, Meiko spoke.</p><p>“The Holy Beasts…Nishijima-senpai was partnered to one of them.”</p><p>“Nishijima-senpai?”</p><p>“Himekawa-san’s friend.”</p><p>Miyako ran through her head with the facts she knew from the prior year’s incident, and remembered that they’d mentioned an upperclassman of Taichi’s who had apparently been friends with Himekawa – to the point of having gone on an adventure with her in the past, even before Taichi and the others had. It had never occurred to her that the Holy Beasts could themselves be Digimon partners, but the more she thought about it, the more it didn’t seem all that impossible.</p><p>“Mochizuki-san,” said Poromon, “could you tell us what happened from your perspective?”</p><p>“Ah, yeah! If you could tell us. Only if you’re comfortable with it, though. You don't need to if it means forcing yourself.”</p><p>Another pause, although shorter than before. Meiko shook her head slightly.</p><p>“It’s fine.”</p>
<hr/><p>“I met Mei-chan six years ago. A little more than that.”</p><p>“Mei-chan?”</p><p>“My partner.”</p><p>Miyako remembered that Meiko’s partner had been called Meicoomon, and nodded. “Ah, ah. Right, I see.”</p><p>“I lived in Tottori back then. We met in the backyard outside my house. We were such good friends. Then, right after that, I met Himekawa-san. I was surprised that an adult knew about Digimon. She said she worked for a government agency…I was completely fooled by her. She was working with ‘that man’…”</p><p>Miyako nodded to acknowledge that she was listening. She understood ‘that man’ to mean Gennai’s former comrade, one of the Agents who shared his face but had betrayed them all, and was ultimately the root behind the incident.</p><p>“They created Mei-chan. They created her out of the distortions and gave her to me to cultivate in the real world. From the beginning, they chose us to destroy everything…”</p><p>She clutched her Digivice tighter.</p><p>“But not only that…”</p><p>Miyako could tell that Meiko was getting back into emotionally heavy territory, as her words started taking a slow pace again.</p><p>“Himekawa-san…she originally wasn’t much older than me, but she was physically an adult.”</p><p>“Eh?!”</p><p>Miyako recoiled in shock – it was true that, now that she thought about it, Himekawa Maki had definitely not seemed like someone barely older than them, and it explained why it was so shocking to learn what her “real” age was, but it was still an incredible thing to parse.</p><p>“I don’t know the details, but it had something to her being so close to the distortions changing how time worked for her. So even though it was a short time in the real world, for her, it was years and years working on it…She worked for so many years, because she wanted her partner back.”</p><p>“Her partner?”</p><p>“She went on an adventure with Nishijima-senpai when they were younger. And then their partners stayed behind to protect the Digital World. But she couldn’t stand being separated from her partner, and wanted to reset everything and redo it from scratch to relieve her partner of that duty…”</p><p>Tears started silently rolling down Meiko’s face.</p><p>“She worked on it for so long. She spent so many years…Even at the very end, she was crying and laughing at us. Saying we’d never understand. Until the very end, when she still refused to back down and jumped in, and then…”</p><p>There was a pause as Miyako filled in what Meiko was saying: and then she was killed.</p><p>“She was crying out to her partner. And I…I felt the same. I wanted to be with Mei-chan. She was my only friend even after we came to Tokyo. She was the only one who understood me. But they told me that she was causing the infections and had to be taken down. I know why they said so. But even if the world were to be destroyed…I…”</p><p>Her tears were now giving way to sobbing, as her sniffling was starting to disrupt her speech. Miyako looked on sadly. The situation of having to potentially kill a Digimon they considered a friend was not new to her, and she knew that Taichi – having once himself had to put Agumon’s life on the line like this – had meant no malice. But in the cases she had experienced up until now, their friends had all been like-minded, even after some minor dispute. Could she blame Meiko for not feeling the same way, and retaliating at other people advocating for the death of her own partner?</p><p>“So in the end, I’m no different from her…”</p><p>Miyako took a moment to swallow what Meiko had just told her. She knew she wanted to tell her that this was wrong, that she shouldn’t be so hard on herself, but it took a while to grasp the right way to put it. After taking a minute to sort out what she wanted to say, Miyako took her turn speaking.</p><p>“The truth is…when the Holy Beasts chose us to fight someone…it was one of our friends.”</p><p>Meiko was still sniffling hard, but Miyako could hear an audible “ – eh?” from her. Miyako continued; she hated bringing this entire thing up because she didn’t like to dwell on the horrible things in Ken’s past, the things that all of them wanted to move on from, but it was very necessary for the current situation.</p><p>“He was a Chosen Child, and he was doing all sorts of horrible things. He might have destroyed everything…But we were chosen to stop him. And then after that, he became our friend – I guess it sounds pretty weird to put it that way…” She gave another small laugh, awkward and wry to indicate she wasn’t trying to make light of it. “Now he’s a very kind person, and he fights alongside us. He’s a Chosen Child just like us. But there are definitely things he did in the past…”</p><p>“Certainly, we don’t think this makes him any less of a Chosen Child,” chimed in Poromon.</p><p>Miyako nodded. She felt awful telling Ken’s story for him, wishing that he were here to do it himself, but she had to make do with what she could at the moment. “He didn’t originally do what he was chosen for, but even though he made all of those mistakes, he’s our friend now.”</p><p>“Whenever we have fought for the Digital World,” said Poromon, “we did it because we <em>wanted</em> to. Miyako-san has always had the choice to stop; she just never took it. Even if Miyako-san is a ‘Chosen Child’, <em>we’re</em> the ones who chose to fight.”</p><p>“Right! Our seniors used to tell us that all the time. That even as Chosen Children, we were the ones making the choices. Something about us coming together as ‘destiny’ and not ‘fate’…” She shook her head as if to clear it again, having realized that she was about to tread into talking about things even she didn’t understand herself. “I mean! I haven’t really met the Holy Beasts all that much, so it’s hard for <em>me</em> to care that much about a bunch of old fogeys.”</p><p>Even this got Meiko to break a small giggle, and Miyako, realizing that she had made headway, broke out into a wider smile.</p><p>“So yeah. I mean, I think everyone understands your feelings. And also…”</p><p>Miyako looked down at Poromon and nodded.</p><p>“I don’t know much about your relationship with your partner, but I’m sure you were there for her until the very end, right?”</p><p>Meiko solemnly nodded.</p><p>“Then…I’m sure you’ll find your way back to each other again. We’ve been separated a lot of times, but we’ve always found a way…”</p><p>The last sentence she’d just made suddenly gave Miyako a flash of an idea.</p><p>“Ah! Actually, I think there might be someone you want to talk to. There’s someone I know who went through a similar experience as you. He’s from America, but he knows Japanese, and I’m sure he probably knows better about these things.” She pulled out a paper and pen from her bag and started scribbling down an email address. “Hikari-chan and Takeru-kun know him too, so if you need help getting introduced, you can ask them. I included my email in there too, just in case. Although, you should be careful, because…”</p><p>She finished writing and handed the piece of paper to Meiko, who eyed it carefully.</p><p>“…Because, what?”</p><p>Miyako’s expression turned a bit exasperated. “Well, the thing is, he might start <em>flirting</em> with you…”</p><p>Meiko burst into laughter at this, and took the paper.</p><p><em>Ah, I really hope I’m getting somewhere…</em> thought Miyako, still nervous.</p><p>Meiko pocketed the paper, sighed a little, and looked back out at the rain. At the very least, she seemed to not be crying anymore.</p>
<hr/><p>“…The truth is, I’m moving back to Tottori in a few months.”</p><p>“Huh?”</p><p>Meiko’s tone was somewhat more confident now that she was no longer talking about the incident itself, but it still had a tinge of sadness to it.</p><p>“I originally came to Tokyo because my father got a job offer. A university in Tokyo was starting a research branch into Digimon, and they thought he might be someone who would be good for the field.”</p><p>Miyako nodded. It was true; recent years had seen the beginnings of some Digimon research labs in various universities. According to Gennai, since they were apparently being headed with involvement from Chosen Children themselves, the Agents were keeping an eye on them instead of subjecting them to the usual data deletion, but they were still few enough in number that they were limited to major cities – certainly not in Tottori.</p><p>“But after all this…my parents don’t want to have anything to do with the Digimon anymore. So once this school term ends, we’re going back. And…”</p><p>She put her Digivice back in her bag.</p><p>“…I haven’t talked to Yagami-kun at all since the incident. I haven’t talked to the others much either, but especially not him. I don’t know what I could say to him, and I think he’s been avoiding me. I know why he had to do what he did. But…He’s the one who…”</p><p>Miyako nodded in understanding.</p><p>Taichi had been the one to personally kill her partner. Even if Meiko didn’t personally resent him, it was easy to imagine she would have difficulty being around him after that.</p><p>And yet, it was easy to see why Meiko would bring up such a thing – she didn’t <em>enjoy</em> being in this rift in the others, and especially since she would be leaving Tokyo on functionally bad terms with them.</p><p>Miyako took some more time to think about what she wanted to say, but to this, she felt she had truly hit a wall.</p><p>“…I don’t know, honestly. The only thing I can say is, try not to blame Taichi-san too much. I’m sure he feels awful about it, too. But what the answer to that is…I don’t know, either.”</p><p>Meiko only nodded in response to this.</p><p>Miyako sighed. “I’m sorry. I wish I could help more – ”</p><p>“No, it’s okay. I appreciate it.”</p><p>It was the first time Meiko had actually cut Miyako off in the conversation, and somehow, it felt welcome. She turned to look back at Miyako, and smiled, very lightly at her.</p><p><em>…She has a really pretty smile,</em> thought Miyako.</p><p>Poromon looked up at Miyako again. “Miyako-san, I hate to break this up, but…”</p><p>“Ah! That’s right! It’s really getting late, I need to get home, I have a lot to do tonight…” She (with Poromon still in her arms) put her hands together. “I’m sorry, I wish we could talk more, but I have to go…”</p><p>“No, it’s fine,” said Meiko. “Thank you for talking to me. You said your name was…”</p><p>“Miyako. Inoue Miyako. And you’re Mochizuki Meiko-san, right?”</p><p>Meiko nodded.</p><p>“I gave you my email, so feel free to talk to me anytime. I hope we can talk again!”</p><p>She propped her umbrella up and made a dash for it. Running in the rain, naturally, led to her inevitably slipping and falling on her face (and dropping Poromon in the process).</p><p>“Ow ow ow…”</p><p>As she was getting herself together, she saw Meiko looking at her from the canopy, a little startled, but with the same slightly-amused face she sometimes saw Hikari or Ken have around her.</p><p>
  <em>Well, as long as she feels better, I guess.</em>
</p>
<hr/><p>Miyako was still rather wet when she walked into the family convenience store.</p><p>“You’re late,” said Chizuru, looking at her from the counter.</p><p>“Sorry, sorry. I got sidetracked by something.”</p><p>Chizuru raised an eyebrow and reached over the counter to hand Miyako what looked like a magazine. “You should read this. It’s pretty hilarious.”</p><p>“Huh, what’s this…”</p><p>Miyako took the magazine from Chizuru, picked up a few other things from the store, and quickly headed back to her apartment. She beelined straight for her room, tossed her wet jacket on the chair, and threw herself onto the bed, exhausted.</p><p>Remembering the magazine that Chizuru had handed her, she took a quick peek. Immediately, she understood why Chizuru had called it “hilarious” – it was a tabloid article on the prior year’s incident, with all sorts of ludicrously poorly-researched “facts” that didn’t even make sense when put together. Even by journalism standards, it was rather painfully apparent how much it was trying to milk for sensationalism points.</p><p>Despite all of the help Takeru’s parents gave them in regards to dealing with press, Miyako was no stranger to weird journalism about her and her friends, and normally she would have just laughed it off and sent an email to the others mocking it (Takeru, who had lately gotten into keeping records of their exploits, would probably be mortified), but somehow, she just wasn’t in the mood at all and flung it across the other side of the room to her desk.</p><p>“Are you still thinking about what happened earlier today?” said Poromon.</p><p>“Yeah, with Mochizuki-san,” said Miyako. “I hope I made her feel a little better today, but she’s going through so much, I don’t think that alone could have done it. I’m worried about her still being on bad terms with the others. I don’t know what to do…</p><p>“I think it’s certainly impossible for you to fix all of her problems with only one conversation,” said Poromon. “However…I think we can hope that our conversation with her did at least a little.”</p><p>Miyako took in what Poromon said. Unless Meiko chose to actively re-establish contact, there was only so much she could do as someone who was still a relative stranger to her. But if that conversation could be at least a step in the right direction, then that alone was something.</p><p>“…Yeah,” said Miyako, rolling back around on the bed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Is it obvious how excited I was to write this chapter, given I wrote it in less than a day? It's also the longest one so far. Oops. (Please don't expect me to keep doing this.)</p><p>Honestly, the base premise of this chapter is complete self-indulgence, but you have to forgive me; it's only natural that when a certain director claimed that Meiko was the first "glasses girl" in the series, using the exact same slang word that I named this Miyako fic after in *2007* (it was a very popular word in anime fandoms at the time thanks to Suzumiya Haruhi and Lucky Star), I was obviously not very amused. On the flip side, though, when you have a fic named "Glasses Girl", I truly felt like the opportunity to make this kind of chapter should not be wasted.</p><p>Like with the last chapter, I honestly didn't want to spend so many paragraphs talking about plot, because I didn't want this to turn into a gratuitous showcase of changes. But when you want to flesh out Meiko, you kind of have to talk about her circumstances and what she was involved in, and on top of that, since the story has Miyako not be personally very involved in much of it, *someone's* got to explain the whole thing to her, and it's also not like you can do the entire thing offscreen because that's just going to be confusing. So it ended up being a lot of running around trying to get enough down to explain why Meiko feels the way she does in a way that the reader can understand, while also trying to make just enough changes to resolve the disparity between this being a very 02-based fic and a series of events that don't work very well with 02's logic or timeline (I promise, every change here has a timeline/lore or characterization-related reason behind it), and...well, in any case, I do hope this managed to be a fun and interesting chapter despite the very long onslaught of gratuitous-feeling plot description.</p><p>The next chapter and on will mostly go back to some more calm daily life stories and preparation for Kizuna (you might have noticed some setup before, but I'll naturally have to ramp it up as we approach our next checkpoint in 2010). As always, I can't guarantee quick updates (especially not as fast as this one), but I hope you enjoy it.</p>
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